Melanie Ochs appears from the Clark County Detention Center on closed-circuit television Monday in Las Vegas Justice Court. Photo by Isaac Brekken/Review-Journal.

Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Karen Bennett-Haron set bail at $250,000 Monday for the foster mother who is charged with killing a 7-month-old boy in her care.

Bennett-Haron also ordered Melanie Ochs to be placed under house arrest after she posts bail.

Ochs' lawyer, Robert Langford, had asked for $50,000 bail and said Ochs had no prior criminal record and was not a flight risk. He said her children are living with their father in the family home, but Ochs will live elsewhere under house arrest.

Prosecutor Vicki Monroe wanted Ochs' bail to be set at $500,000. Defendants charged with murder often have bail set at $1 million, she said.

"There is no reason that just because it's a baby, it's any less important or any less heinous," Monroe said outside the courtroom.

Ochs is charged with first-degree murder by child abuse in connection with the Aug. 4 death of her foster child, known as "Baby Boy Charles." The infant died from blunt force trauma with a skull fracture and swelling of the brain, authorities said. Doctors who treated the baby found a high likelihood of non-accidental trauma to be the cause of the injuries.

On Aug. 2, Ochs called 911 after she found Charles in his crib not breathing at her home on Dune Cove Road near Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road, according to her arrest report. She told the call taker that when she tipped his head back to try to resuscitate him, the back of his skull felt mushy. She said she noticed a large lump on his head.

Ochs told authorities that Charles fell backward and hit his head against the bathtub on July 31 during a bath, but he seemed fine later. She denied intentionally hurting the baby.

But doctors who treated the baby told police the injuries were more likely caused by Charles' head hitting a flat surface.

Langford said Ochs is innocent but declined to explain what her defense is.

There had been no prior reports of abuse or neglect regarding the baby at Ochs' residence, according to a Department of Family Services report.

But Monroe said the boy had been taken to a hospital in Southern California during a trip with Ochs in July. The child had been bruised, and doctors at that hospital were told a coffee table fell on him, Monroe said.

In court, Langford emphasized that Ochs was the one who called 911 and that in California, the family "took the child to the doctor because they were afraid." But the child was uninjured, he said.

A foster family is supposed to tell the county if it leaves Nevada with a foster child.

Tom Morton, director of Clark County Family Services, said he could not confirm or deny whether Ochs had given the county agency proper notification. Not filing the report would result in a licensing violation but would not necessarily require the removal of the child from the home, he said.

He said a caseworker responsible for monitoring the boy's well-being had an appointment to visit the family pending when Charles was rushed to the hospital.

Caseworkers are required to have face-to-face contact with the child monthly, and Ochs had been caring for the child since Jan. 3. Morton said he could not comment on how many times a caseworker had visited Charles at Ochs' home or whether a caseworker had visited the home at all.

When asked if the agency acted appropriately in the child's case, he said, "I don't want to speculate based on not having the correct information in front of me."

Morton said he would need to review the case before he could comment further. Unsure about what he could say about the case specifically, he directed further questions to county attorneys.

Ochs' own children, her 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old adopted son, were taken from her custody when Child Protective Services began investigating the death of Charles, Monroe said.

Lt. Brian Evans of the Las Vegas police special victims section said he had reviewed pictures of the home and said it was not clean when emergency responders arrived, but there was nothing he knew of that was unsanitary or unsafe for children. Clothes were strewn about, and ants were in the house, he said.

"I don't keep my house like that, but I don't think it was anything that was uninhabitable by any means," Evans said. "I know there was some ants in the place but, that's so subjective."