SANTA ANA, Calif. – A La Habra mother was convicted today of first-degree murder for pushing her 7-month-old son off the fourth story of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County parking structure in Orange, killing the infant.
Sonia Hermosillo, 41, of La Habra, was convicted by a jury of one felony count of murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death. Hermosillo had entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
The same jury who found her guilty of first-degree murder will now have to decide whether she was legally insane at the time of the crime. The sanity trial is scheduled to begin on August 24, 2021 at 9 a.m. in Department C30 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Hermosillo is currently being held on no bail.
On Aug. 22, 2011, Hermosillo drove her 7-month-old son, Baby Noe, to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and parking her car on the fourth floor of a parking structure. The baby suffered medical conditions that required him to receive medical treatment at CHOC regularly, but the infant did not have a scheduled appointment that day. Baby Noe wore a medical helmet for one of his medical conditions.
At approximately 6:20 p.m., Hermosillo removed her baby’s helmet and pushed Baby Noe from the parking structure with the intention of murdering him with the four-story fall. Hermosillo then walked inside the hospital, validated her parking, and drove away.
A witness who saw the baby falling through the air called 911 and the Orange Police Department (OPD) responded to the scene. Baby Noe was taken to the trauma center at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in critical condition. He died two days later.
Shortly after Baby Noe was pushed off the parking structure, Hermosillo’s husband called law enforcement to report his wife and infant son were missing. That night an Orange police officer saw Hermosillo driving past CHOC on Main Street and arrested her.
Hermosillo has two other children.
“The most basic job of a parent is to keep their children safe from harm,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “This child didn’t even have the chance to take his first steps, say his first word, or even celebrate his first birthday before he was murdered by the very person whose job was supposed to keep him safe. Baby Noe may not have been on this earth very long, but the men and women of the Orange Police Department and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office never gave up the fight for justice in this case. Thank you to our law enforcement partners and to Senior Deputy District Attorney Mena Guirguis for their dedication to the pursuit of justice and for putting victims first.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Mena Guirguis of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
