Father faces murder charge after baby died in his care

A father is facing a murder charge after his baby died in his care, according to Las Vegas police.

Court records show 22-year-old Alejandro Pantoja faces one charge of second-degree murder and one charge of child abuse/neglect. According to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, those charges are connected with the death of his baby who was born this year.

Metropolitan police officers responded to a call about a baby not breathing just after 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 27. When they got there, officers said that Pantoja called 911 from his neighbor’s apartment and that water covered a lot of Pantoja’s apartment floor. They also found his older child sitting in a stroller inside the apartment.

According to the report, Pantoja told officers he put the baby in the bathtub before he fell asleep in his bed for either 30 minutes or an hour; he told the officers both time frames. Pantoja said that when he woke up, he found the bathtub overflowing and the baby floating face-down in the water.

Police said Pantoja ran to his neighbor’s apartment across from him and called 911 from there, because he did not have a phone.

At the time, one of Pantoja’s children was at his sister’s house for the day and his girlfriend was at work, according to the report.

Police said that when they arrested Pantoja on Wednesday, he surrendered himself and offered no resistance. He is currently in custody and is due back in court on Tuesday.

Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com.