Angel Santiago stood before Judge Frank Iannotti at Superior Court in Milford Wednesday and said he was responsible for the death of Kyle Robinson, a 5‑month-old boy he was caring for in June 2011.
But he denied, adamantly, having shaken the little boy to death, as police and prosecutors have maintained for more than two years.
“I never shook Kyle in any way,” Santiago said. “What happened to Kyle was in fact an accident.”
The claim is dubious, the prosecutor said, given the horrific nature of the baby’s injuries.
Santiago’s words came at the end of a nearly hourlong sentencing on a charge of first-degree manslaughter.
He faced up to 11 years in prison in the case, but was sentenced to serve nine.
Background
Santiago pleaded under the Alford doctrine in December to a single charge of first-degree manslaughter.
State’s Attorney Kevin Lawlor said then that about 7:19 p.m. on June 10, 2011, Ansonia police and EMTs were dispatched to a Hubbell Avenue 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 unconscious.
Robinson was rushed to the hospital, where the baby, in a vegetative state, clung to life for two days before dying.
An autopsy showed various traumatic brain injuries, along with other injuries.
The injuries were “non-accidental” in nature, Lawlor said in December, and experts concluded they “would have had to have been committed basically at the time or shortly before the time Kyle Robinson was discovered by emergency services.”
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.”
Santiago’s lawyer, Public Defender David Egan, 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.
’What Happened To Kyle Is My Fault’
While speaking in court Wednesday, Santiago reiterated his denial of having shaken Kyle, and said that in shaken-baby cases, children typically have more injuries than those documented in Kyle’s autopsy.
Rather, Santiago said, “This injury happened when Kyle fell head-first onto the floor” a couple days prior to June 10, 2011.
Santiago said he had not told anyone about what happened until Wednesday because he was trying to protect Kyle’s mother, Kelly Robinson.
“Kelly, I never lied to you,” Santiago said. “Any question you ever asked me I answered truthfully. I never mistreated you or the boys. I was strict but never abusive. All I ever did was love you guys.”
Santiago said that Kyle and the baby’s two brothers “meant everything to me,” and that he would spend hours every day with them, doing everything from teaching them how to brush their teeth to playing with toys.
“No matter how I look at it, and no matter what the honest truth is, what happened to Kyle is my fault,” Santiago said. “He is no longer with us because I failed to keep him safe. This is why I accept full responsibility in this matter. I sincerely apologize that due to my negligence, we will never have the opportunity to watch Kyle grow up.”
Santiago said after his release from prison he’ll volunteer to tell his story to anyone willing to listen to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Egan noted Santiago was reportedly “hysterical” when first responders came to the Hubbell Avenue residence.
“Those are not actions consistent with someone who has committed some violent or negligent act,” Egan said. “In the very least it indicates paralyzing remorse.”
’Incomprehensible Breach Of Trust’
In asking the judge to hand down an 11-year sentence in the case, Lawlor said that if Santiago disputed the account of Kyle’s death, he “should have had a trial.”
“These are the cases that stick with you,” Lawlor said. “You keep asking yourself ‘What if?’ and ‘Why?’”
The prosecutor said Santiago’s acts amounted to an “incomprehensible breach of trust.”
“This was an utterly, 110 percent defenseless baby that was literally left in his hands as his mother walked out of the door to go to work,” Lawlor said.
“The severity of these injuries, the brutality of what happened to this 4‑month-old baby, it really goes beyond the pale of description,” he added later. The baby’s spinal cord was detached from his brain stem as a result of the trauma.
Lawlor played a minute-long video of Kyle for the judge to show “who Kyle was, and what (Santiago) took away.”
“What punishment fits the killing of a defenseless child?” Lawlor wondered. “From my persepective, there really is no punishment that fits. Whatever your honor imposes here today, he’s going to out out and be amongst us in the not too distant future.”
Kyle’s mother, Kelly Robinson, then stood before the judge as a victim’s advocate read a statement on her behalf.
“There are no words to say to even resemble the pain I feel every day not having my son Kyle with me,” she said.
She said she hasn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since her child’s death, and can’t explain to Kyle’s brothers that he’ll never come back.
“Kyle should be in preschool right now, not in God’s arms,” she said. “Angel put him there. Why?”
A cousin of Robinson’s, Tina Bowen, told the judge that her cousin and the rest of Kyle’s family “will never be the same.”
“He’s a monster,” Bowen said. “Our family opened our heart to him and he ripped it out.”
’Regardless Of The Why, You Are Responsible’
Before handing down his sentence, Judge Iannotti told Santiago that regardless of the exact circumstances surrounding Kyle’s death, he was ultimately to blame.
“In this instance, an innocent, loving, 5‑month-old boy is dead, through certainly no fault of his own,” the judge said. “There is no doubt in my mind that this baby is dead because of what you did.”
“Regardless of the why, you are responsible, you stand here responsible today, you’re going to be punished as the responsible party,” Judge Iannotti went on.
The judge agreed with Lawlor that Kyle’s mother and the rest of her family will be affected forever by the death.
“There’s no morning that she will ever wake up and be the same person she was before her child was taken from her,” Judge Iannotti said.
“You will have the opportunity to put your life back together,” the judge said. “They’ll never have that opportunity.”
“Only you know what happened,” Judge Iannotti went on. “And that is something that you will have to find a way to live with. I don’t know how you will do that.”
He then sentenced Santiago to an 18-year prison term to be suspended after 9 years, followed by five years of probation.
Reaction
Outside the courtroom Lawlor said he respected the judge’s decision and the sentence.
The prosecutor said he doubted Santiago’s account of Kyle’s injuries.
“I don’t find that to be credible because I don’t think a baby could live for two days with a severed spinal cord,” Lawlor said.
“The medical examiner and the state’s other medical experts were fairly clear that this injury would have occurred shortly before the time (of) the 911 phone call,” the prosecutor went on.
First responders arrived at the home the night of the incident to find formula dribbling out of Kyle’s mouth, which Lawlor said Santiago had put there “to make it look like something else (had happened).”