Father found guilty of 3rd-degree murder in infant's fatal overdose
Judge says choice to get high while watching the boy constituted malice.
A NORTH Philadelphia man accused of spiking his 11-month-old son's infant formula with a deadly dose of heroin and methadone was found guilty yesterday of third-degree murder.
Orlando Rosado, 46, also was found guilty in the nonjury trial of misdemeanor child endangerment, after his attorney unsuccessfully argued to have the murder charge dropped in what he said was an accidental death.
Although Rosado admitted to police that he may have accidentally put liquid methadone instead of water into his son's formula while under the influence of heroin on May 11, 2012, Common Pleas Judge Barbara McDermott said that his decision to use the drug while watching over his son constituted malice.
Assistant District Attorney Lorraine Donnelly argued that Rosado had intentionally placed the drug in his son's formula in an attempt to put the "fussy" baby to sleep.
The judge acquitted Rosado on a charge of drug delivery resulting in death, saying she found no evidence of intent.
Still, Rosado faces a maximum sentence of 22 1/2 to 45 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 27.
Rosado, an admitted heroin addict originally from New York, has an arrest record in that state, Donnelly said. In addition, Rosado was arrested on a drug charge in Philadelphia in 2005. The resolution of that case was unclear yesterday.
Rosado was living with his longtime girlfriend, also a recovering drug addict, and their two children in May 2012 when their son Christopher was found dead.
Rosado, who had watched Christopher the night before, originally told police that he had no idea how his son had died. Hours after his son's death, Rosado left St. Christopher's Hospital for Children to get treatment at Parkside Recovery, saying he was depressed.
After police confronted Rosado three days later when traces of methadone and heroin were found in the baby's system, he told them varying stories about how the drugs may have gotten there, including that his then-5-year-old daughter accidentally gave them to his son.
When the methadone and heroin were traced back to the bottle that Rosado had told police he fed to the baby about 3 a.m., Rosado admitted that he may have accidentally mistaken the drugs for water. Rosado also admitted using eight bags of heroin after his girlfriend fell asleep about 10 p.m. the previous night.
McDermott told Rosado that his lies to police showed his intent, but also told the defendant: "There is no doubt in my mind you are genuinely sorry."
