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Ex-LIer held in baby's death
Cops: He left daughter alone in unair-conditioned car while he went to track.
BY KEIKO MORRIS
STAFF WRITER
March 15, 2004, 5:56 PM EST
A former Elmont man arrested in Florida for the death of his 9-month-old daughter left the infant alone in his unair-conditioned car with a window cracked open one-half inch, while he watched horseracing at a local track, police said.
In a videotaped statement, Antonio Francisco Balta, 27, a horse groom, told police he left his daughter, Veronica, unattended in the parking lot of Gulfstream Park racetrack in Hallandale Beach on and off throughout the day on Saturday, police there said. Police said that Veronica was strapped in her car seat in the back of Balta's two-door, Pontiac Grand-Am. By the time she was taken to the hospital, her body temperature was 107 degrees, according to a police document.
Balta told police he checked on his daughter periodically during the day, the last time for about 45 minutes to watch the Florida Derby and talk with friends, according to the document. When he returned to his car shortly before 5:30 p.m., Balta, who was not working that day, discovered his daughter was not breathing. He then called his girlfriend, Michelle Bashford, the baby's mother, who was working at the track, said Andrew Casper, Hallandale Beach Police spokesman. She ran out to the vehicle and took the child to a first-aid station at the track. Police contacted fire-rescue workers, who attempted to revive the infant as they rushed her to the hospital.
Balta appeared before a judge in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County, where he was ordered held without bail. Prosecutors typically decide whether to file charges within 21 to 30 days, after the police investigation is complete.
Balta's estranged wife, Jenni Balta, 23, of upstate Queensbury said she was stunned to hear the news. Jenni Balta, who has been separated from Balta for the last three years, said that he lived in Elmont when he first arrived in this country from Peru at 16. From about 1997 to 2001, he lived with her and her mother in Queensbury, while he was working at the Saratoga racetrack.
She said that Balta has been largely an absentee father to their two children, a son, 5, and a daughter, 3, visiting only sporadically and making regular child-support payments within the last eight to nine months.
"I am very, very, very shocked," she said. "He wasn't very responsible, and I knew that. But I don't want to say that sounds like something he would do, because I don't know. I never really allowed him to be with the kids alone."
Balta's family could not be reached for comment. And the mother of the infant declined to comment.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc. | Article licensing and reprint options
That bastard :rl: for what he did.. Left the baby in the car.. geez. The baby was so innocent.
Cops: He left daughter alone in unair-conditioned car while he went to track.
BY KEIKO MORRIS
STAFF WRITER
March 15, 2004, 5:56 PM EST
A former Elmont man arrested in Florida for the death of his 9-month-old daughter left the infant alone in his unair-conditioned car with a window cracked open one-half inch, while he watched horseracing at a local track, police said.
In a videotaped statement, Antonio Francisco Balta, 27, a horse groom, told police he left his daughter, Veronica, unattended in the parking lot of Gulfstream Park racetrack in Hallandale Beach on and off throughout the day on Saturday, police there said. Police said that Veronica was strapped in her car seat in the back of Balta's two-door, Pontiac Grand-Am. By the time she was taken to the hospital, her body temperature was 107 degrees, according to a police document.
Balta told police he checked on his daughter periodically during the day, the last time for about 45 minutes to watch the Florida Derby and talk with friends, according to the document. When he returned to his car shortly before 5:30 p.m., Balta, who was not working that day, discovered his daughter was not breathing. He then called his girlfriend, Michelle Bashford, the baby's mother, who was working at the track, said Andrew Casper, Hallandale Beach Police spokesman. She ran out to the vehicle and took the child to a first-aid station at the track. Police contacted fire-rescue workers, who attempted to revive the infant as they rushed her to the hospital.
Balta appeared before a judge in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County, where he was ordered held without bail. Prosecutors typically decide whether to file charges within 21 to 30 days, after the police investigation is complete.
Balta's estranged wife, Jenni Balta, 23, of upstate Queensbury said she was stunned to hear the news. Jenni Balta, who has been separated from Balta for the last three years, said that he lived in Elmont when he first arrived in this country from Peru at 16. From about 1997 to 2001, he lived with her and her mother in Queensbury, while he was working at the Saratoga racetrack.
She said that Balta has been largely an absentee father to their two children, a son, 5, and a daughter, 3, visiting only sporadically and making regular child-support payments within the last eight to nine months.
"I am very, very, very shocked," she said. "He wasn't very responsible, and I knew that. But I don't want to say that sounds like something he would do, because I don't know. I never really allowed him to be with the kids alone."
Balta's family could not be reached for comment. And the mother of the infant declined to comment.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc. | Article licensing and reprint options
That bastard :rl: for what he did.. Left the baby in the car.. geez. The baby was so innocent.
...Katzie.....I don't blame you girly!... 
That guy should FRY for what he did! :madfawk: