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OGDEN, Utah, July 22, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — An Ogden father is facing multiple charges including two counts of aggravated murder after the death of his 10-month-old son, officials said Sunday.
According to Weber County Sheriff’s Office, Alex Hidalgo, 37, is facing 16 charges, including two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of abuse or desecration of a dead human body, seven counts of failure to appear on citation, and one count of each criminal trespass within a dwelling, intoxication and possession of a controlled substance. Hidalgo is being held without bail at the Weber County Jail.
The baby, Alex Hidalgo Jr., was unresponsive when police responded to an apartment on Madison Avenue, near 2400 South, at about 4 p.m. Friday.
A probable cause statement released by police said officers responded to the apartment on a report of cardiac arrest. A woman reported that her neighbor’s one-year-old son, AHJ, was not breathing. “Officers arrived just as medical had located the mother, AD, and AHJ and started attending to him,” the probable cause statement said. “AHJ was covered in blood. AHJ was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.”
AD stated Hidalgo was watching their son, AHJ. AD left the apartment to run some errands. “When AD returned to the apartment, Alex was sitting on the couch in the front room reading a bible and watching a video of religious music and sermons. AD asked about AHJ. Alex told her he had built an altar like they had talked about. Alex started talking about AHJ having 666 on him.”
The mother then asked where the infant was, and Hidalgo told her he was dead. The mother said she thought Hidalgo was joking with her, and started looking for the infant but could not find him. She then started yelling at Hidalgo and asked where the baby was. The mother then picked up her phone, but Hidalgo told her not to call anyone, or “she’ll send him to prison.”
“AD located AHJ in the closet inside a garbage can with the plastic garbage bag pulled shut,” the probable cause statement goes on. “AHJ was head down in the garbage can with his feet up towards the top of the garbage can. AD looked through the top of the garbage bag and could see AHJ’s legs. AD immediately grabbed AHJ out of the garbage bag and put him against her shoulder. As AD was exiting the closet she saw Alex walk out the front door of the apartment.”
She then exited the apartment screaming and a neighbor came out into the hallway to assist her, the statement said. The mother and the neighbor then started performing CPR in the hallway. 911 was called and medical personnel arrived. The mother told officials Hidalgo was the only other adult in the apartment during the time of the incident.
Officials then began searching the area for Hidalgo, and issued a press release to say that he was a person of interest in the investigation. A search warrant was then obtained to process the apartment.
Crime Scene Investigators located blood spatter on the lower panel of the bar separating the kitchen from the front room as well as on a desk within close proximity, the statement said. The carpet near the blood spatter was also saturated. The carpet was cut back and removed, revealing a large blood stain on the carpet and the carpet pad underneath that was still wet to the touch. Investigators also located a paring knife in the kitchen sink that was wet as if it had recently been washed. A garbage can was located inside the closet with more bloody towels inside, garbage soaked in blood and blood pooled at the bottom of the garbage can.
Detectives attended the post mortem examination of the infant at the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner; it was discovered that the infant had three stab wounds to the neck, one of which severed both the carotid artery and the jugular vein as well as impacting the spine.
On Saturday night just before 9:30 p.m., police received a suspicious report that a man was trying to break into an apartment at 2245 S. Jefferson Ave. Hidalgo was then located at a nearby abandoned residence at 539 22nd St. He then fled on foot, then was located and arrested. It was found that he had blood on his clothing, both of his hands and arms, and a wound on his wrist; he told officers he had cut his wrist because he was depressed. Hidalgo was taken into custody and transported to the police station to be interviewed.
Gephardt Daily will update this story as more information is made available.
