More than three and a half years after a Bryan man is arrested for hitting and shaking his 37 day old daughter, a Brazos County district court jury convicts then sentences him to 40 years in prison for child abuse.
On Halloween, 22 year old Gabriel Sanchez appeals the jury’s conviction and punishment.
A news release from the district attorney’s office says Bryan police detectives testified that Sanchez struck the baby on multiple occasions and threw the child off a bed where she hit a night stand.
The baby had multiple skull fractures, multiple bruises to her brain, and bruising throughout her body, many in the shape of handprints.
The jury was told the full extent of the injuries won’t be known until the child, who turns four next February, starts school.
The child’s mother was at work at the time her daughter was injured. Sanchez also admitted to trying to prevent the mother from seeking medical help.
Sanchez was arrested April 1, 2020, the night her daughter was hospitalized. He spent seven months in jail before being released after posting bond, where he remained free for three years before the jury conviction on the eighth time a trial date was set.
The jury’s decision on punishment came after Sanchez asked for probation and prosecutors sought 60 years.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
On October 27, 2023, the 361st District Court Jury sentenced Gabriel Sanchez, 22, of Bryan to 40 years in prison for Intentionally or Knowingly Causing Serious Bodily Injury to a Child Under 14.
The 361st jury convicted Sanchez of the charge on Wednesday night.
On April 1, 2020, Bryan Police Officers were dispatched to St. Joseph Hospital after medical staff reported that they had a 37 day old infant with injuries that appeared to be a result
of child abuse. A CT scan of the child revealed multiple skull fractures, old and new bleeding in the brain, as well as multiple bruises to the brain. In addition, the infant had bruising throughout her body, many in the shape of handprints.
The infant was life-flighted via helicopter to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where specialists in child abuse found that the injuries were intentionally inflicted as a result of multiple blows to the infant, as well as shaking.
Detectives with the Bryan Police Department discovered that the Defendant, the victim’s father, had been left in custody of the child for around an hour while the victim’s mother was at work. The Defendant called the victim’s mother to state that the child had fallen off the bed. Defendant ultimately admitted to the investigators that he had struck the child on multiple occasions, as well as throwing the child on the bed, causing it to bounce off and hit a night stand. The Defendant also admitted he tried to prevent the child’s mother from seeking medical help for the child.
Prosecutors presented evidence from a child abuse expert at Texas Children’s that the injuries that the victim suffered could only be a result of extremely violent shaking and striking of the child multiple times. They also presented evidence that although the child did not appear to have any lasting effects from the abuse, the full extent of the injuries will not be known until the child starts school.
Finally, prosecutors presented evidence that the defendant had previously been violent towards other family members, including the child’s mother and a disabled, elderly relative of the child’s mother.
Assistant district attorneys Jessica Escue and Anjelica Harris issued the following statement: “This Defendant attacked an innocent and defenseless child. The jury’s verdict and sentence sends a strong message that our community will take a strong stand to protect the most vulnerable among us.”