Posted at: 07/07/2009 4:26 PM
By: The Associated Press

NM mother charged in baby's death

VADO, N.M. (AP) - A 21-year-old southern New Mexico woman has been charged with child abuse resulting in death after Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found her 1-month-old son unresponsive.

Arcelia Lopez was being held Tuesday in the county jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond. Deputies were sent to Lopez's home Monday evening after getting a call about the unresponsive child.

The boy was later pronounced dead and his body was sent to Albuquerque for an autopsy. Lopez told investigators that she was feeding her son when he threw himself backward and hit his head on a couch armrest.

Sheriff's Sgt. Joe Reynaud said investigators questioned the story after considering the ability of a child that age and the placement of the furniture.