Angelina Rodriguez | Homicide Watch Chicago

Mother gets 75 years for not stopping boyfriend from killing 5-month-old Angelina Rodriguez

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 13:41:10 -0600

Angela Petrov | Chicago Police

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

When Angelina Rodriguez cried while her parents partied in their one-bedroom West Rogers Park apartment, the 5-month-old paid the price by being suffocated by her father while her mother stood by.

Most mothers, even those who are battered like Angela Petrov, would “shield and jump in the way” to protect their offspring from harm. But Angela Petrov “sat there while it happened,” Cook County Judge Maura Slattery Boyle said Thursday before sentencing Petrov to 75 years in prison for the baby’s murder.

Angelina Rodriguez

It was Rigoberto Rodriguez’s hands that covered Angelina’s mouth, “but Petrov did nothing” to stop him that night on April 11, 2013, the judge said. “She sat there and allowed the torture of this child.”

Petrov, who testified that she tried to grab Angelina from Rodriguez, sobbed in court before she was sentenced, telling Slattery Boyle that she deeply mourns for her dead child.

“Nothing that happens today can compare to the loss of my child and the grief that I feel,” the 24-year-old Petrov said through tears.

Petrov suffers from depression, said her attorney, Richard McLeese.

Rodriguez, 31, is serving an 85-year prison sentence.

The couple were listening to music and drinking a combination of Hennessy, Sprite and Red Bull in their West Rogers Park home in the 2500 block of West Fitch when Angelina interrupted them with her cries, Assistant State’s Attorney Megan Mulay said.

Petrov initially took her youngest child out of her playpen, but then Rodriguez took Angelina and covered her mouth three times for 30-second intervals as the baby gasped for air.

Rigoberto Rodriguez | Chicago Police

Petrov told Rodriguez that “something bad was going to happen” and that what he was doing was “dangerous,” according to court testimony. But instead of checking on Angelina after Rodriguez put her “limp” body back into the playpen, the couple had sex and fell asleep, prosecutors said.

They didn’t check on Angelina until the next day when they noticed she was unresponsive.

Even at the hospital, Petrov denied that Angelina was exposed to trauma, Mulay said.

“She’s cruel. She’s mean. She’s a killer,” the prosecutor said. “She knew what she did and she knew what she didn’t do, and the only thing she feared was getting caught.”

McLeese said it was unfair to characterize Petrov as a murderer. Like Angelina, Petrov also was abused by Rodriguez, McLeese said.

Just two days before Rodriguez attacked Angelina, he beat Petrov so badly she suffered broken teeth and lacerations, the defense attorney said. Like most battered women, Petrov often misrepresented the source of her injuries, he explained.

“She was not the principal actor here. The principal actor was someone who terrorized her for years,” McLeese said.

Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Father of 5-month-old Angelina Rodriguez gets 85 years for killing the infant to stop her from crying

Jeff Mayes — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 16:40:37 -0600

By MITCHELL ARMENTROUT
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Rigoberto Rodriguez | Chicago Police

A man found guilty of repeatedly covering the mouth of his 5-month-old daughter to muffle her crying, leading to severe brain damage and eventually her death, has been sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Rigoberto Rodriguez, 31, was convicted of first-degree murder last year for the death of Angelina Rodriguez, who was found injured at her parents’ Rogers Park home in the 2500 block of West Fitch on April 11, 2013, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Rodriguez and the girl’s mother, 24-year-old Angela Petrov, were drinking Hennessy and listening to music as Angelina was sleeping in her playpen when the girl began to cry, prosecutors said at the couple’s bond hearing.

Petrov picked up the crying baby and gave her a bottle, but she continued crying, so Rodriguez took her from Petrov and put the girl on a bed, prosecutors said.

Angelina Rodriguez | photo provided

Rodriguez then put his hand over the girl’s mouth to stop her from crying, Buck said. The crying stopped, and he removed his hand, but it started again, authorities said. So Rodriguez put his hand over his baby’s mouth a second time.

The crying briefly stopped again, but when she began once more, Rodriguez put his hand over the girl’s mouth a third time until she stopped crying and her body went limp, prosecutors said.

Petrov saw the baby go limp and did nothing, prosecutors said. Rodriguez put the baby back in her playpen, and then the couple had sex and went to sleep.

Angela Petrov | Chicago Police

They found the baby stiff and unresponsive in the playpen about 11 a.m. the next day and called 911. Angelina was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital, where doctors found she had older skull fractures and a “blown pupil” as a result of brain swelling and lack of oxygen, prosecutors said.

She was taken off life support three days later and her death was ruled a homicide by suffocation, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The parents were arrested the day they brought her to the hospital. They gave inconsistent accounts of what happened and eventually confessed, prosecutors said.

Petrov was previously convicted of murder and is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 17.

Couple charged in death of baby

John Carpenter — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:16:06 -0500

The death of a 5-month-old Rogers Park girl who was on life support after her father allegedly covered her mouth repeatedly to muffle her cries has been ruled a homicide and the parents have been charged with murder.

Angelina Rodriguez, of the 2500 block of West Fitch Avenue, was pronounced dead at Lurie Children’s Hospital at 3:36 p.m. Monday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Prosecutors originally charged her parents -- Rigoberto Rodriguez, 29, and Angela Petrov, 21 -- with aggravated battery to a child after the baby was found injured on Thursday, April 11, in her Rogers Park home. They were ordered held in the Cook County Jail on $5 million bonds.

On Friday, the charges against both were upgraded to first-degree murder, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. A bond hearing will be conducted on the new charges Monday.

An autopsy Thursday ruled Angelina’s death a homicide, caused by asphyxia from suffocation, according to the medical examiner’s office.

At a bond hearing Sunday, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Buck told Judge James Brown the couple was drinking Hennessy in the room where their daughter was sleeping in her playpen and the girl began to cry, the Sun-Times previously reported.

Petrov picked up the crying baby and gave her a bottle, authorities said. But the girl’s cries continued, so Rodriguez took her from Petrov and put the girl on a bed, Buck said.

Again the crying stopped, Buck said, and Rodriguez removed his hand. But the little girl only gasped for air and began to cry once more. That’s when Buck said Rodriguez put his hand over the girl’s mouth a third time until she stopped crying and her body went limp, authorities alleged.

Petrov was present each time he did this, Buck said, saw the baby go limp and did nothing. Buck said Rodriguez put the baby back in her playpen, and then the couple had sex and went to sleep.

Around 7 a.m. Friday, Petrov got up to get another child in the home ready for school, and then she went back to sleep, Buck said.

Both parents got up around 11 am. Friday, and finally noticed their baby “stiff and unresponsive in the playpen,” Buck told the court.

The couple tried throwing water on the girl’s face and doing CPR, Buck said, and Petrov called 911. The girl was initially taken to Saint Francis Hospital before she was transferred to the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She suffered a “blown pupil” as a result of brain swelling, according to prosecutors.

Doctors also noticed older skull fractures while examining the girl, authorities said.

The couple was arrested later Friday.

Buck said the couple gave inconsistent stories to hospital personnel. Rodriguez, who also goes by the name “Rico”, later admitted to police he put his hand over the girl’s mouth numerous times to get her to stop crying, according to the prosecutor.

Petrov admitted to police she saw Rodriguez put his hand over the girl’s mouth three times, Buck said. She also admitted she sat in a chair and watched. Medical personnel said the girl’s injuries are consistent with a hand being placed over her mouth, Buck said.