A young Connecticut father answered to a second-degree manslaughter charge in court Tuesday after his 5-month-old son died with a blood alcohol content of .04, according to the warrant for his arrest.
Jorge E. Chiclana, 22, of Bridgeport, was arrested on Monday, just over a year after his son's death. Court documents show the bottle in 5-month-old Jacob Isaiah Chiclana's crib contained 25 percent alcohol, enough to make a 50-proof cocktail.
Police began investigating on May 16, 2014. First responders were dispatched to an apartment on Ely Avenue in Norwalk because a baby had stopped breathing. Emergency personnel tried to revive the infant and brought him to Norwalk Hospital, but the baby couldn't be saved.
On Aug. 18, 2014, the office of the chief medical examiner revealed to police that the baby had alcohol in his liver tissue and urine. Police followed up with the child's parents and sent the bottle to a state lab for testing, according to the warrant.
The lab returned test results in October 2014 that showed alcohol in the baby bottle, the warrant says. Police again questioned Jacob's mother, who first said she didn't remember who had prepared the child's bottle that day and insisted she did not keep alcohol in the house.
She later told police Chiclana had prepared the bottle, court documents state, and that he was not happy about the attention she had been giving the child. She went on to say the baby was teething and Chiclana had joked about giving Jacob alcohol to help him sleep.
Police received the autopsy report on March 16 of this year. According to court documents, the report found alcohol in the baby's blood, liver, gastric contents and urine and said Jacob likely did not die of aspiration, as originally thought, but likely died because he was asthmatic and had been placed face-down in the crib. According to the report, Jacob's breathing was likely affected because the alcohol depressed his nervous system.
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The U.S. Marshals Service Violent Fugitive Task Force helped Norwalk police locate Chiclana at the Honeyspot Motor Inn in Stratford, where he was arrested Monday. He was charged with with second-degree manslaughter and injuring and impairing the morals of children and was held in custody overnight after failing to post bond.
Chiclana appeared in court on Tuesday morning, where his attorney stated that his client has substance abuse and mental health issues.
