Dead toddler’s family asks why some have rights while she has none

Hubbel Drive is about 210 miles from Las Vegas in the Desert Hills area of unincorporated Mohave County, Ariz., just outside Lake Havasu City.

Today, try to think of it as just around the corner in a neighborhood not far from your own front door.

It was on Hubbel Drive in a mobile home on the night of Oct. 28 that tiny Dakota Harryman was injured so severely that she lost consciousness and stopped breathing. Although paramedics managed to resuscitate the bright-eyed, 7-month-old girl, emergency room doctors in Lake Havasu City immediately diagnosed her condition as grave. Dakota was rushed by air ambulance to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, where doctors fought to save her life. She died the following day of massive head trauma and internal bleeding.

Glenn Peralta, a 31-year-old left in charge of Dakota and other youngsters for just 20 minutes, was immediately considered a suspect in the infant's death. Mohave County sheriff's deputies arrested him on the night of the incident and charged him with aggravated assault and child abuse. Two witnesses told police Peralta admitted harming the baby.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault," Peralta reportedly said. "I did it."

Although the baby had bumped her head the previous day and had been taken to the hospital as a precaution, the fresh injuries were so dramatic they couldn't likely have been caused accidentally. Blood flowed from the child's nose, much of her body was bruised, and her right eye was blackened. Her crib's mesh netting was imprinted on her face.

So imagine everyone's surprise when the charges were abruptly dropped two days later by county prosecutor Matt Smith, who cited Arizona's 48-hour time limit for filing a criminal complaint in cutting loose Peralta. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said Peralta, who had just moved to the area from California, could be charged at a later date once the full investigation is completed. That is, if he decides to hang around.

Mohave County sheriff's officials expressed bewilderment at the decision. The baby's family was outraged. Treating physicians were said to be stunned after observing such obvious signs of blunt trauma and suspected assault on an infant who had only begun to test her wobbly legs.

Dakota's great-grandmother Maureen Sieker is seething over the lack of charges. The 30-year Lake Havasu City resident said she overheard Peralta clearly admit hurting the girl on the night of the incident.

"The baby was fine when they left," Sieker said. "I heard him say it. Myself and my daughter both heard him say, 'It's my fault, it's my fault. I did it.' He's the only person capable of doing it. We know he had to have thrown her. There was blood on the wall (of her bedroom). There was blood coming out of her nose."

But when the Mohave County attorney's office declined to file a criminal complaint, the charges were dropped, and Peralta was released.

The office's chief deputy prosecutor, Jace Zack, defended the decision not to formalize charges. He told the News-Herald of Lake Havasu City that the decision not to file a complaint was made in part due to "erroneous medical information that was received initially." Zack added, "There's a lot more testing and investigating that has to be done. That doesn't mean the case is over. If additional evidence is developed, certainly charges can be filed at that time."

Each day of delay only adds to the pain of the family of Dakota Harryman. Her mother, Meagan Minert, hasn't yet been able to hold a funeral for her child because the coroner hasn't released the body.

"They were quick to make sure he got his rights (protected)," Sieker said. "Where are her rights? This guy is out walking the street. Who is looking out for her rights? I'll tell you right now, we need a new county attorney, big time. I'm so angry at the county attorney's office I don't care what I have to do. He needs to go. Somebody who would let someone like this walk doesn't deserve to be in office."

Sieker paused to collect her emotions, and thought once again of her great-granddaughter.

"This baby never cried," she said. "She was such a content little thing. She wasn't a fussy baby at all."

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.