An Ector County Sheriff’s Office probable cause affidavit detailed the final days for a 10-month-old Odessa girl who died after she suffered a horrific beating.
The baby’s stepfather admitted to shoving a bottle into the infant’s mouth because she would not stop crying and then hit her with a closed fist on the side of her head, a probable cause affidavit detailed.
The baby, identified as Eiley Vee Lira-Romero, was taken to Medical Center Hospital on Dec. 2, then flown to University Medical Center in Lubbock with life-threatening injuries and eventually was released to the family and placed under home hospice care after no signs of brain activity were detected due to the injuries.
The infant remained under home hospice until Dec. 13 when at 12:28 p.m. she was pronounced dead by the home hospice RN, the ECSO affidavit stated.
Edward Lira, 28, was charged with capital murder, a capital felony. He was booked into the Ector County Law Enforcement Center on the capital murder charge on Dec. 15, jail records show. He has one bond totaling $1 million and was still in custody as of Wednesday morning.
After the baby was taken to Medical Center Hospital on Dec. 2, Lira never arrived at MCH. He was found at his residence and transported to ECSO for an interview. Lira agreed to a formal interview and he was read his Miranda Rights, which he waived.
During the interview, and after Lira’s story had changed numerous times, deputies in the probable cause affidavit detailed that Lira was the only person in care and custody of the child since Nov. 28.
Lira told deputies he was highly intoxicated, stressed and angry at everything going on in his life, and to “top it off the child kept crying and wouldn’t stop,” the affidavit detailed.
Lira stated he tried numerous times to give the child a bottle, even forcefully shoved it into her mouth several times but she wouldn’t stop crying, the affidavit stated.
Lira, in the affidavit, stated that at one point he was standing over the crying child while she laid on the couch and though he didn’t admit to the assault, he said he must have punched her on the side of the head with a closed fist, though he doesn’t recall how many times he struck the baby.
Once Lira realized the child became limp and unresponsive, he called for help, the affidavit stated.
ECSO deputies were made aware of the injury to a child at 7:33 a.m. Dec. 2 when they responded to Medical Center Hospital, an ECSO probable cause affidavit detailed.
Deputies made contact with hospital staff who stated a 10-month-old girl arrived at the ER after being transported from her residence by Odessa Fire Rescue. The initial report showed the child had a fractured skull and brain bleeding.
OFR was advised by Lira that the child fell off the couch and became unresponsive with all of this taking place at a residence in the 11000 block of W. Kassner Drive, the affidavit stated.
A trauma surgeon at the hospital reported the injuries sustained by the child weren’t consistent with a fall from a couch and were more indicative of a blunt force trauma to the head.
The child was airlifted to Lubbock in critical condition, the affidavit stated.
