HEREFORD, TEXAS -- A Hereford man faces life in prison for injuring his 16-month old son. Salvador Gonzales Jr., was arrested in February and charged with the near-fatal beating. Wednesday, his case went to trial.
The boy's mother, Angelica Porras was sentenced in August to 20 years in prison for her role in the crime.
According to police, the toddler was taken to the Hereford Regional Medical Center "covered with bruises from head to foot," he was immediately flown by helicopter to a Lubbock hospital with life-threatening injuries. The little boy suffered from a fractured skull, a broken leg, and a lacerated liver.
Gonzales initially claimed the child's injuries happened when Gonzales was jumped by a number of assailants while he walked down the street. However hospital personnel noticed that some of the toddler's bruises appeared older than others. When asked about those earlier bruises the boy's mother, said that the child had rolled off the bed and hit a nightstand.
Police reportedly found evidence inside the home of drug use and other evidence linking the couple with the child's injuries.
