Asked Wednesday how he wanted to plead to a charge of first-degree manslaughter in the death of his then-girlfriend’s 5‑month-old baby in Ansonia, Angel Santiago looked downward and shook his head back and forth several times.
“Guilty,” he said after a lengthy pause.
Nearly two years to the day since police charged Santiago, 37, of West Haven, in connection to the June 2011 death of baby Kyle Robinson, he took a plea deal in the case that could see him go to prison for 11 years.
Or, he could receive a completely suspended prison term and walk free after his sentencing, scheduled for March 12.
Santiago pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine Wednesday at Superior Court in Milford before Judge Frank Ianotti.
Under Alford, a defendant does not admit all of the allegations he or she is charged with, but concedes that a conviction is likely if the case went to trial.
Background
State’s Attorney Kevin Lawlor said in court Wednesday that about 7:19 p.m. on June 10, 2011, Ansonia police and EMTs were dispatched to a Hubbell Lane residence where Santiago was caring for his then-girlfriend’s children on a report of an unresponsive child.
They arrived to find 5‑month-old Kyle unresponsive, Lawlor said.
Robinson was rushed to the hospital, where the baby, in a vegetative state, “clung to life” for two days before dying, Lawlor said.
An autopsy performed on the baby showed various traumatic brain injuries and revealed his spinal cord had been severed from its brainstem.
“All of the injuries, according to the autopsy, were of a non-accidental nature,” Lawlor said, adding that experts determined the injuries “would have had to have been committed basically at the time or shortly before the time Kyle Robinson was discovered by emergency services.”
Santiago has been held on $1 million bond since his Dec. 19, 2011 arrest in the case and has appeared in court 22 times.
At the time of Santiago’s arrest police said they believe Kyle’s death was caused by shaken baby syndrome, and spent the months after the incident talking to doctors in order to get a strong enough case to apply for a warrant.
Santiago disputed the police account of Kyle’s death throughout the investigation, going so far as to proclaim his innocence in a TV interview while on the way to surrender to police in December 2011.
“I loved him like my son,” Santiago told WFSB’s Robert Goulston. “I would never do anything to hurt him.”
Since Santiago’s arrest, Egan has also attacked the police theory of the case, and tried to convince judges to lower his client’s $1 million bond, even soliciting a letter from a Michigan medical examiner who cast doubt on the shaken baby explanation.
But while a judge said the letter was “interesting,” he pointed out that it didn’t necessarily weaken the prosecution’s case, and denied Egan’s motion to reduce Santiago’s bond.
Judge Iannotti brokered the 11-year plea offer last month during a judicial pretrial — a closed-door hearing during which a judge tries to get both sides to agree to a deal.
It calls for a 20-year prison sentence to be suspended after Santiago serves a maximum of 11 years, with Egan given the “right to argue” for less or no jail time.
Santiago will be on probation for five years regardless of how much prison time he receives.
Mother Speaks
Kyle’s mother, Kelly Robinson, was in court Wednesday and cried quietly as Lawlor described her child’s fatal injuries.
She later told the judge that Santiago should serve the full 11-year sentence.
“Although I am in support of the plea agreement, I do not agree with the right to argue component,” she said. “I’d prefer he receive a flat (11-year) sentence.”
Judge Iannotti told Robinson that he’d take her comments, and any comments she makes at Santiago’s March 12 sentencing, into consideration when making his decision on how much prison time to give Santiago.
Robinson declined to comment further outside the courtroom, as did members of Santiago’s family.
“God bless you all, have a happy holiday,” Santiago said before being led into the courthouse lockup by judicial marshals.