TU Student Arrested, Accused Of Abusing, Murdering 6-Week-Old Son

Tulsa police arrested a TU student for child abuse-murder after a six-week-old child died Friday.

Monday, September 15th 2014, 5:45 pm

By: News On 6


Tulsa police arrested a senior at the University of Tulsa for child abuse-murder after a six-week-old child died Friday.

Police say Sebastian Aguirre shook the child until his eyes rolled back in his head and became lifeless.

According to reports officers responded to Aguirre's residence on Thursday, September 11th, after he called EMSA and reported his son wasn't breathing. He was watching the child while the mother was in class at TU.

Child Crisis Unit Sergeant Michael Brown said Aguirre, a senior at the University of Tulsa, called 911 from his campus apartment Thursday morning.

Aguirre, 22, said that his son was fine then all of the sudden his eyes rolled back in his head and he became limp.

The child was taken to a Tulsa hospital where, the affidavit said, doctors were able to establish a heart rhythm. It says several hours later the child remained unresponsive due to a severe brain injury.

"Initially, the father stated that the child was being bathed in the shower and went limp,” said Brown. "The child had become limp and its eyes had rolled back in its head which can prove to be consistent with child abuse."

After further examination, reports say, the child's eyes had several retinal hemorrhages that doctors said were consistent with child abuse.

The child died at 7:28 p.m. Friday, September 12th.

Detectives said they interviewed Aguirre at the hospital Friday and he admitted to shaking the child several times.

According to Brown, Aguirre said the child was crying nonstop which lead to the shaking.

The affidavit says Aguirre told detectives during the last shake he saw the child's eyes roll back in his head and the boy became unresponsive. He said he placed the child in cold water in an attempt to wake him.

"Just about any tragedy involving a child is going to be very, very difficult based upon the fact that very few of the victims that are children play any role in their victimization,” said Tulsa Police Sergeant, Michael Brown.

Police said the baby's mother has been cooperating with police.

The couple does not have any other children.

In a statement, TU said:

“The University of Tulsa is deeply saddened by this tragic incident. Our hearts go out to the family in this time of profound loss.

While there are very few families who reside on the TU campus, we understand they have unique needs and we work to make them feel they are an important part of our tight-knit community.

TU offers support to married students and their families through the Counseling and Psychological Services Center. Dr. Thomas Brian, the center's director, has post-doctoral training in marriage and family counseling and said the center offers therapy to students free of charge including evening hours one night each week and arrangements are made for anyone in crisis who requests to be seen immediately. Additionally, Brian said he and his staff conduct workshops designed to teach students how to cope with the stress of balancing college demands with family responsibilities.

University officials are cooperating fully with Tulsa law enforcement. We will continue to offer support to the child's family and to our entire campus as we seek to ascribe meaning to this senseless tragedy.”

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