Iowa City teen mom wants explanation of charges in toddler's death

The Johnson County Attorney's Office has clarified its reasons for charging both a teenage mother and her boyfriend in the death of an Iowa City toddler after the mother requested an explanation and inferred that her boyfriend was solely to blame.

Mireya Balderas, an 18-year-old student at Tate High School in Iowa City, is accused of child endangerment resulting in death after investigators say she permitted, condoned and participated in the continued physical abuse of her son, Marcus Balderas, at the hands of her boyfriend, Jorge Perez, according to amended trial information.

Perez' abuse caused Marcus to suffer broken ribs, injuries to his head and skull, lacerations to his moth and other physical injuries for which Balderas did not seek medical attention, according to the trial information. Balderas also is accused of not providing appropriate healthcare and supervision for her toddler.

Perez, 20, of Iowa City, is facing two counts of child endangerment resulting in death – one for a series of assaults that police say led to the toddler's death and one for the injuries that investigators say took Marcus' life at just 20 months on April 30.

Balderas' attorney earlier this month filed a motion asking the Johnson County Attorney's Office to further explain its reasoning for filing a child endangerment resulting in death charge against his client after Perez told police, “It's all my fault.”

“Ms. Balderas was not present. The child died at the hospital before Ms. Balderas arrived. Mr. Perez told the police, ‘It's all my fault,'” according to the motion.

Balderas, in the motion, states that she arrived at Tate High School about 9 a.m. on April 30 and was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics by high school staff about 12:30 p.m.

Perez's mother, meanwhile, told investigators that her son came home to watch Marcus about 10:50 a.m. that day and that no one else stopped by after she left the home, according to the trial information.

Police were called to the mobile home at 2018 Waterfront Drive just after noon on April 30 on a report of a child with difficulty breathing. Marcus was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The final autopsy report, which found that Marcus died of multiple recent blunt force injuries to the head, concluded that, “the history of the day of death, in combination with the autopsy findings, is most consistent with a final fatal head injury as the cause of death,” according to Balderas' motion.

Therefore, in the motion, Balderas' attorney asks the County Attorney's Office to explain “what act or acts Ms. Balderas committed that resulted in the death of her child.”

In the amended trial information, prosecutors elaborated on Balderas' charge, saying that between Jan. 1 and April 30 – the day her son died – Balderas “knowingly acted in a manner that created a substantial risk to her son,” including depriving the child of appropriate health care and supervision.