Former Anderson woman arrested in 2003 shaken-baby case

By Ryan Sabalow, Record Searchlight

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Anderson police have filed murder charges against a Sun Valley woman who's accused of shaking her 6-week-old daughter in Anderson in 2003.

Kayla Salazar lay in a near-coma for almost five years before dying in September at a Santa Monica care home, Capt. Robert Kirvin said Wednesday.

Her mother, Marcela Arminda Fernandez, 38, was arrested on her way to work Tuesday evening by two Anderson detectives and Los Angeles police, Kirvin said.

The arrest came two weeks after Anderson police received an autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

Kirvin said the autopsy determined that Kayla had died as a result of being shaken in 2003.

Anderson police originally had sought charges against Fernandez and her now-husband Derick that year, but the Shasta County District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute the case.

Kirvin said there were conflicting opinions from medical experts that Kayla had indeed been shaken so severely.

"At that time, obviously, no one knew the extent of the child's injuries," Kirvin said.

Marcela Fernandez is being held at the Los Angeles County jail in Palmdale as she awaits transportation to Shasta County.

No charges have been filed against her husband, Kirvin said.