It was October 11, 2013 when the 2 year old son of a former girlfriend and other neighborhood children were left in the care of Juan Canales-Hernandez. Being homeless in Fort Collins at the time, Canales-Hernandez had taken on this responsibility in exchange for a place to live.
A statement from Canales-Hernandez revealed the 2 year old had thrown water on Canales-Hernandez. He in turn grabbed the child, sucking on his face, which left bruising and bite marks. Then he wrestled with the little boy, spinning the both of them around the room until they became dizzy. He said they crashed into the glass TV stand, which pinned the child between Canales-Hernandez and the furniture. Canales-Hernandez stated he then poked the child twice telling him to "shake it off", with no response.
When the child's mother arrived home from work, Canales-Hernandez told her about the injuries to the child's face, but no more of the story. She told police she saw other bruising on his body but she assumed he would be just fine. However, later that night, she awoke to the sound of her child screaming in pain.
She called her mother who lived in Maryland. The grandmother traveled to the home, picked up the child and had him transported to Carroll Hospital in Westminster, Maryland. Later he was transported to John's Hopkins Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.
The examination revealed the child's pancreas had been torn in half, he had over 100 bruises on his body, his liver was bruised and his arm was fractured. The child underwent pancreatic surgery, losing half of his pancreas.
The child was left with permanent physical and emotional scarring.
Canales-Hernandez accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to child abuse. He was sentenced to four years and was released in May, 2016, only 2 1/2 years after his arrest.
On September 7, 2016, just 4 months after his release, Alexia Coria walked into the hospital emergency room with her 11 month old daughter, dangling in her arms. When detectives responded to a call from staff members to question the parents. Coria stated she was in the bathroom when her 11 month old daughter RaeLynn fell while trying to climb up into her high chair. She told authorities the little girl was bleeding from her mouth and was limp.
Canales-Hernandez told police he was visiting a neighbor when the incident occurred. Stating he heard about it through Coria who had texted him while he sat in the apartment two doors down.
The mother also stated she did not immediately call 911 nor take the child to the hospital immediately, having spent 30 to 45 minutes placing her in water. When the condition did not improve, she and Canales-Hernandez transported the child to the hospital.
On September 8, 2018 Coria called detectives, changing her story. She stated she had left RaeLynn in the care of Canales-Hernandez long enough to go pick up her other child. While she was out, she received a call from him saying RaeLynn had been injured.
Canales-Hernandez also changed up his story. He told police that he was in fact charged with the care of RaeLynn during Coria's absence that day. He also stated he was playing with the child, tossing her up in the air. During this playtime the 11 month old fell and hit her head. He said he then tried to feed her and couldn't get her positioned correctly in her high chair.
Then he echoed the same word used by so many abusers, "frustrated".
He stated to police he became frustrated with the situation and grabbed the kitchen chair beside him, picked it up off the floor and swung it at RaeLynn. He hit her so hard, the blow knocked her off of her high chair causing her to bleed from the mouth with severe brain damage as she went into cardiac arrest.
[It is still unclear as to whether or not Coria's statement of placing the child in water for a time before getting help is true or false.]
On September 9, 2018, RaeLynn died at 5:05 pm of the injuries sustained at the hand of an abuser of what the Larimer County Coroner's Office detrmined as homicide by blunt force injury.
Coria defended her act of trying to cover for the abuse by stating she wasn't given the entire truth herself.
The 10 day trial of Juan Canales-Hernandez is scheduled for March 26, 2018. Charged with first degree murder and felony child abuse Canales-Hernandez also faces a habitual offender sentence enhancer if he is found guilty, due to the previous conviction in the case of the two year old child mentioned above.
