Coroner rules November death of North Las Vegas baby a homicide

The manner of death for the 7-month-old boy who died in November in a North Las Vegas home was ruled a homicide Monday by the Clark County coroner’s office.

The cause of death for Raymond Rodriguez Gonzalez, who was 7 months and 23 days old, was blunt-force trauma of the abdomen and thorax, the coroner’s office said Monday evening.

According to the arrest report for the boy’s father, Raymond was crushed when his 6-foot-tall, 255-pound dad pressed his knees onto him because he wouldn’t stop being “fussy.”

The boy’s father, 23-year-old Cornelio Rodriguez-Gonzalez, was arrested two days after the infant was found and charged with one count of murder by child abuse, police said in November.

Rodriguez-Gonzalez was watching Raymond and his two stepsons while the boys’ mother, Amy Elliott, was at work. On her lunch break, Elliott called Rodriguez-Gonzalez and the two started to argue about Rodriguez-Gonzalez having to take care of Raymond, the report said.

While still talking to Elliott, Rodriguez-Gonzalez went to check on the baby, only to find that Raymond was not breathing. He told the mother Raymond had fallen earlier, but that he was better and had gone to sleep. Elliot told Rodriguez-Gonzalez to call 911, and the Clark County fire department arrived and took Raymond to University Medical Center.

The boy died at the hospital.

Rodriguez-Gonzalez is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 14.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.