Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Raona Dorothy Mora, a 32-year-old woman from Eagle Mountain, is now facing an aggravated murder charge, which is a capital offense, after her 4-month-old son died from skull fractures.
- Her husband, Jose Miguel Mora Rodriguez, 33, has also been arrested for investigation of child endangerment.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain woman accused of killing her 4-month-old boy is now facing a capital offense.
Raona Dorothy Mora, 32, was originally charged in 4th District Court on Sept. 30 with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony; plus marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors.
According to court documents, the Utah County Attorney's Office filed amended information on Oct. 4, now charging Mora with aggravated murder, a capital offense.
In addition, Mora is also being held in the Utah County Jail for investigation of an additional charge of child endangerment, and her husband, Jose Miguel Mora Rodriguez, 33, was arrested Tuesday and also booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of child endangerment.
On Sept. 24, Mora "struck her 4-month-old child in the head hard enough to leave a visible indentation and cause fractures throughout the child's skull," according to charging documents. "Almost immediately there was blood coming from the child's ear, and the child became unresponsive."
The boy was flown to Primary Children's Hospital, where he died a few hours later, the charges state.
In a police booking affidavits filed for the couple on the child endangerment investigation, detectives following up on the case tested the hair follicles of the deceased infant's siblings — an 8-year-old boy and and 12-year-old girl — to look for the possible presence of drugs in their systems.
A 12-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy were both tested, and the girl's results came back as clean. The boy, however, had positive results for THC metabolite, meaning he had been exposed to or had sufficient contact with marijuana that it was prevalent in his body, according to police.
While searching the Rodriguez residence, police noted marijuana paraphernalia was in plain view, including marijuana "wax" located in the room the boy sleeps in and in the attached bathroom.
Contributing: Cassidy Wixom
