News - Local

Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2008

Police: 5-year-old boy died at Oceano Dunes after mom's boyfriend covered his head in sand

Jesse Alvarez took two big gulps of sand, couldn’t recover, witnesses say in newly released report

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A 5-year-old boy who died this month at the Oceano Dunes was playfully getting buried at the beach when a family friend covered his face with sand and he eventually lost consciousness, according to an incident report released Tuesday.

Jesse Joe Alvarez was playing with his mother, her boyfriend, his uncle and a baby sitter about 5 p. m. on July 4 at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, according to the report by the state Department of Parks and Recreation.

The boyfriend, Juan Francisco Nunez, 24, has been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in the boy’s death, according to the

county District Attorney’s Office. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.

When the boy asked his mother, Stacy Baiza of Santa Maria, to bury him, she began covering his feet with sand while Nunez, also of Santa Maria, started covering his upper body, according to the report.

“Stacy’s boyfriend told Jesse to close his eyes and mouth, to close everything,” according to the child’s baby sitter, Dehrion Orlando of Santa Maria. “Juan swept sand over Jesse’s face, and Jesse took two big gulps of sand.”

Orlando told investigators that Nunez never told Jesse that he was going to sweep sand over the child’s face.

“Jesse sat up and was trying to get the sand out of his mouth. Jesse could not talk,” according to Orlando.

The child’s mother, uncle and Nunez then held the boy’s head back and poured Pepsi down his throat in an attempt to get the sand out of his mouth. When that didn’t work they rushed him to the shoreline to rinse the sand from his mouth. The boy then became unconscious, Orlando said to investigators.

Two nurses nearby noticed that something was wrong.

“I looked up and saw a child being carried to the water. An adult was splashing him with water,” registered nurse Lorie Marshall of Santa Maria said. “The adult with him was doing chest compressions and screaming, ‘He’s not breathing.’ ”

Marshall and two other nurses told investigators they began CPR and noted that Jesse was not breathing, that he did not have a pulse and his lips were blue.

A wave struck the group as they were trying to revive the boy, so they picked him up and moved him away from the water. Paramedics arrived and tried to shock the boy’s heart. He then was rushed to Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and pronounced dead.