A 21-year-old Redwood City man made his first appearance in the San Mateo County Superior Court Monday on child abuse charges.
Gersson Ayala's initial felony arraignment comes three days after the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office detectives obtained an arrest warrant for him, according to county officials. His girlfriend, Lesbia Vicenteramirez, 22, was also arrested for accessory to a crime.
The defendant appeared with retained attorney Alexander Cross, according to court records. The defense motion to continue the arraignment was granted, and the case was reset to October 19 at 1:30 p.m. for further arraignment and for entry of plea. Bail was set at $100,000, and Ayala remains in custody.
On May 7, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the emergency room at Stanford Hospital on a report of a 3-month-old baby who sustained a broken femur. Based on the seriousness of the injury, detectives responded to the scene and conducted a joint investigation. The preliminary investigation made detectives suspicious of the mother’s boyfriend, Ayala, of inflicting the injury to the child. However, at that time detectives did not have enough evidence to conclude that Ayala caused the injury.
Throughout the following months, authorities conducted an extensive investigation with multiple interviews, evidence collection, and consulting with medical experts. Detectives also learned that the child’s mother, Vicenteramirez, lied and misled them during the investigation, county officials said.
Both suspects were arrested without incident and booked at the Maguire Correctional Facility. Co-defendant Vicenteramirez, who was released on a $250 cash bail, has not yet appeared in court.
Anyone with information about the suspects is asked to contact Detective J. Baker at 650-363-4060 or email jbaker@smcgov.org.
Leah Worthington is the lead reporter at the Redwood City Pulse, a local news site dedicated to providing accurate and timely news to the Redwood City community. Leah can be reached at lworthington@rwcpulse.com, on Twitter, and by phone at 650-888-3794. To read more stories about Redwood City, subscribe to our daily Express newsletter on rwcpulse.com.
