Evening star., 1944-02-14
Coroner Orders
Mother Held in
Death ofChiId
Police Reopen
Probe of Earlier
Fotulity in Family

A cogQner's jury deliberated less
than Is minutes today before order
ing Mrs. Christine Orencia, 81, Of
807 Mount Vernon place NV, held
for the grand jury in connection
with the death of her 3-year-old
daughter last Saturday.
Mrs. Orencia Is accused of beat
ing the child to death.
Detective Sergt. Edgar E. Scott
OF the homicide squad said Mrs.
Orencia told him her mind went
blank when the child stood and
screamed when she called the child
to have her face washed. The
mother said she had a headache and
was nervous. the detective testified.
nd added the baby apparently had
been trying to aggravate her, es-
pecially in the last few weeks.
Detective Scott said the mother
later recalled grabbing hold of the
child and also recalled having a
chair rung in her hand when she
regained her senses.
DR.. Richard M. Rosenberg. who
performed the autopsy on the child's
body, said that her death was due
to general peritonitis, attributed to
her injuries.
Had Fought With Brother.
Detective Scott said Mrs. Orencia
told him that Aurora, the dead
child, and her brother Douglas. %
months old. had often fought and
that Douglas had hit her with a
hammer and other objects in the
room which possibly accounted for
some of her injuries. Concerning
some freshs wounds on the little
girls body, the detective said the
mother told him the dead child
stood in front Of the stove and
permitted herself to be burned.
Douglas, dressed in a sailor suit,
remained outside the hearing room
with his father, Constantine Ramos
Orencia. during the testimony. Mrs.
Orencia's mother, Mrs. Charles w.
Goode, sat in the room holding her
daughters 11-month-old baby dur
ing much Of the early testimony.
She sobbed continuously, shielding
her face from photographers with
her coat lapel, while her daughter,
sitting at the witness table, alter
nately cried and held a handker-
chief to her nose.
The husband was called to the
stand by Coroner A. Magruder Mac
Donald, but did not testify after the
coroner informed him that he could
stand on his constitutional rights.
I guess any husband will always
stand by his wife" Mr.. Orencia said,
Mrs. Orencia was represented by
Eugenio M. Fonbuena as her attor-
ney.
Earlier Death Probed. II
Mrs. Orer1cia was charged with
manslaughter after she admitted to
police Saturday that she. had beaten
the child with a chair rung.
Detectives, meanwhile, started an
investigation into the death In 1910
OF the couples f1rst-born child,
Ronald. The 20-month-old boy died
August 20 of that year and a GER
tif1cate Of accidental death was is
sued BY the coroner's ONCE, police
said.
had been admitted to Children's Hos
pital January II, 1910, and treated
for injuries which Mrs. Orencia said
at that time were the result of a
fall in the couples home in the 1000
block of Massachusetts, avenue NV,
where they then lived.
Ronald was discharged from the
hospital the same month.
Seven months later, according to
police records, an Emergency Hos
pital physician, summoned when
Mrs. Orencia said she found Ronald
unconscious in bed, pronounced the
child dead. An autopsy revealed
the cause of death as a cerebral
hemorhage, police said, and the
certificate Of accidental death was
issued.