Las Cruces man charged in death of 4 year old

A Las Cruces man has been arrested and charged with child abuse resulting in death.

Four-year-old Devon Booth died Monday afternoon at University Hospital where he had been transported from Las Cruces.

Booth's 10-year-old sister told police that the boy was not allowed to have anything to drink after 4:00 p.m. because he had been wetting his bed. After the boy was caught drinking from a toilet, he was physically abused.

Louie Guerrero, the boy's stepfather, is being held at the Dona Ana County Jail charged with a first degree felony. He faces up to 18 years in prison.

It's amazing that some women need to get laid more than they care about their kids. It's horrible what this baby had to endure. There's even more to this story, the siblings were involved in his torture.

Las Cruces boy beaten in bed wetting incident dies

By Laura Cruz
El Paso Times

A 4-year-old Las Cruces boy died in an Albuquerque hospital Monday afternoon as a result of being beaten into unconsciousness by his 10-year-old sister as a form of punishment under their stepfather’s instructions, police and hospital officials said.

Louie Guerrero, 38, of 3398 Eastridge, was arrested and charged with child abuse resulting in death or bodily harm after his stepson, Devon Booth, was found unconscious in the family’s home Sunday afternoon, Sgt. Mark Nunley said. Devon died at 12:36 p.m. Monday at the University of New Mexico Hospital, hospital officials said.

Devon was allegedly wetting his bed and not allowed to have anything to drink after 4 p.m., but the child began to drink from the toilet, according to a criminal complaint filed by Las Cruces police.

Guerrero punished the boy by requiring him to squat with his arms extended in front of him. He also instructed his 10-year-old stepdaughter to hit the child if he moved from his squatting position, police said.

During an interview with police, the girl said that Devon fell to the floor "and he wouldn't get up because he was knocked out," and when she told Guerrero he said to leave the child there.

Sunday morning the family's 16-year-old son told the 10-year-old to bathe Devon "because there was blood on his face." Alhough the girl couldn't wake the boy up she washed him and put him back in bed, documents said. Later the 16-year-old son called 9-1-1 and began to perform CPR when he saw that the child was not breathing.

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