Grand jury adds harsher charges for girl’s death

Grand jury adds manslaughter I to counts against couple

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Aug 14, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

Armando Moreno-Garcia

Contributed photo

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Two foster parents face additional charges of manslaughter in a murder-by-abuse case involving a 2-year-old girl.

A Multnomah County grand jury has re-indicted Dunia Soledad Moreno, 30, and her husband, Armando Moreno-Garcia, 39, swapping charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment for manslaughter charges, said Prosecutor Jeff Howes, a Multnomah County deputy district attorney.

Gresham police arrested Soledad Moreno on Sept. 9, 2006, five days after she and her husband brought their 2-year-old foster daughter, Keyana Bravo-Hamilton, to Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center.

The toddler, who was cold to the touch, died of battered child syndrome, or more specifically blunt force trauma to the abdomen resulting in sepsis, according to the state medical examiner.

Her bowel had been ruptured in four places, causing gas and the contents of the bowel to leak into her abdomen, resulting in swelling. Scar tissue had formed in the girl’s inner abdomen. E. Coli and other bacteria also were in her blood.

The medical examiner also noted old and new injuries — a healing broken rib, bruises all over her head, face and body; “ulcers” resembling cigarette burns on her foot, ankle and knee; scabbing abrasions on her back bone; a healing cut on her inner lower lip, patches of hair so short the scalp was visible on what should have been a full head of thick, curly hair; thin limbs and low weight.

A grand jury previously indicted the foster mother on charges of felony murder, murder by abuse and two charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment — one charge for Keyana and a second for allegedly injuring the girl’s 3-year-old half sister, Jasmine Hamilton, who also was living with the couple.

The grand jury previously indicted the foster father on one count of first-degree criminal mischief.

Although Soledad-Moreno was held without bail at the Justice Center Jail, her husband remained free after posting $2,500 of his $25,000 bail.

That changed on July 25, when a Multnomah County grand jury re-indicted the couple and changed the criminal mistreatment charges involving Keyana to manslaughter charges.

“The grand jury thought that was a more accurate charge for what they had allegedly done,” Howes said.

Mother satisfied with change

Now, the foster father is being held without bail on the manslaughter charge at the Justice Center Jail, while the foster mother remains in custody on a no-bail hold.

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