The coroner's report found a bruise on only one side of her head, Thompson said. He accused Rodriguez of changing her story of the abuse, and lying to at least eight people, including police and attorneys. Rodriguez first said she was walking on the ice when she slipped and dropped her daughter, prosecutors admit. But she lied because she feared Gonzales, who has a fourth-degree assault conviction, they said. But Thompson said she continued to lie after she and Gonzales were locked up, when he would have been no threat to her, and also lied to police about her background.
Doctors believe the little girl had been the victim of ongoing abuse.
She had patches on her head where she had lost hair and bruises of varying ages on her body. She died Nov. 23 after a blow to her head caused her brain to swell. Doctors tried to relieve the swelling by draining blood from her brain, but the injury was too severe. Thompson said the injury could have been consistent with an incident the mother described. The mother said several days before Mercedes died she had slipped and hit her head on a metal tub, Thompson said.