PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release on August 14, 2007

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov

Defendants Arraigned on Charges in Death of 20 Month-Old Staten Island Child
*** Edwin Garcia & Marlene Medina Arraigned on Charges Related to Death of Medina’s 20 Month-Old Daughter, Hailey Gonzalez***

      STATEN ISLAND, NY – Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that Edwin Garcia (DOB: 6/15/1977) and Marlene Medina (DOB: 11/27/1982), both of 81 Jersey St., have entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment on charges related to the beating death of Ms. Medina’s 20 month-old daughter, Hailey Gonzalez (11/21/05). Both defendants were ordered held without bail following arraignment before Staten Island Criminal Court Judge Alan J. Meyer.

     Garcia is charged with one count of Murder in the 2nd degree, a class A felony, carrying a top penalty of 25 years to life in prison. Medina has been charged with one count of Manslaughter in the 2nd degree, a class C felony, carrying a top penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

     District Attorney Donovan stated, “In our society there is perhaps no more horrifying crime than the murder of a child who has barely begun to live. These allegations state that on August 7th, Edwin Garcia, in an attempt to discipline the 20 month-old child of his girlfriend, threw the child and slammed her onto a playpen containing hard toys causing severe trauma to the child’s head. Furthermore, the charges allege that the baby’s mother, Marlene Medina, for over five hours, failed to obtain medical attention for her daughter while she exhibited the signs of severe head trauma and other internal injuries.”

     Following the August 7, 2007 assault, Hailey Gonzalez was transported to Richmond University Medical Center where she remained on life-support until Monday, August 13, 2007. The defendants had been arrested on August 7, 2007 for the assault of the child. They were held on $500,000 bail until their re-arrest yesterday following the death of Hailey Gonzalez.

     The defendants are due back in court on August 17, 2007.

     The case against Edwin Garcia and Marlene Medina is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Yolanda L. Rudich, Chief of the Sex Crimes/Special Victims Bureau. Edwin Garcia is represented by Eugene Lamb, Esq. and Marlene Medina is represented by Susan Platis, Esq.

     The public is reminded than an indictment is merely an accusation, and that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

-end-