Santa Ana mother charged with brutally beating her 5-week-old baby boy

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A 34-year-old mother has been charged with repeatedly beating her 5-week-old baby when he refused to stop crying, leaving the infant with 16 broken bones, including a skull fracture, a fractured knee, a fractured elbow, broken ribs and a fractured arm. The baby’s father has been charged with accessory after the fact for trying to cover up his wife’s abuse of their son, according to the OCDA.

Mirian Jimenez-Olivera, 34, of Santa Ana, was charged with 11 felony counts of child abuse. She faces a maximum sentence of 42 years in state prison if convicted on all counts.

Edgar Busto-Rodriguez, 35, of Santa Ana, was charged with one felony count of accessory after the fact. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.

The baby’s parents have pleaded not guilty and are being held in custody in lieu of $1 million bond each.

Jimenez-Olivera is accused of punching her newborn baby in the ribs, shoulder, and arms when he cried on multiple occasions and roughly pulling his leg when she changed him. She is accused of assaulting her baby since he was 2 weeks old.

Busto-Rodriguez is accused of trying to cover up the abuse by lying to police about how his infant son was injured.

On May 13, 2024, the 5-week-old baby was brought to Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in Orange because he wasn’t moving his left arm. Doctors found the baby had 16 broken bones, including a fractured knee, elbow, finger and ribs in two separate locations. The baby also had a skull fracture.

“A mother’s arms should be the safest place for a newborn, fiercely protecting him from the world, but for little Esteban his mother’s arms were the weapons of violence which helped systematically break his little bones into tiny pieces because he wouldn’t stop doing what every newborn does — cry,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “No child should be brought into this world and be subjected to unimaginable pain – and then be left to suffer in silence, not knowing when the next time his mother would lash out in anger and break another rib or snap another bone. We are so grateful to the miracle workers at CHOC who rescued this defenseless baby from the living hell he was born into.”

Deputy District Attorney Bethel Cope-Vega of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.