Police shoot, kill man who savagely beat toddler to death near Turlock

Driver stopped when he saw man slamming something into road

By MICHAEL R. SHEA
mshea@modbee.com

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The officer who tried to stop a Turlock man from savagely beating his 2-year-old son fired one shot and struck the man in the forehead, killing him, Modesto police said today.

Officer Jerry Ramar shot the man as he raised his middle finger to the officer and resumed kicking the child lying in the road, a Modesto police statement said.

Ramar had flown to the scene aboard a Stanislaus County sheriff's helicopter. The pilot, Deputy Rob Latape, landed the chopper in a cow pasture near where the man was beating his son.

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Latape said the decision to land wasn't difficult.

"It was the right thing to do," he said. "That baby needed help and I knew we had to do something."

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UPDATE -- 2:08 p.m.TURLOCK � The Stanislaus County coroner will use DNA technology to confirm that the toddler savagely beaten to death on a rural road near Turlock was killed by his father, the sheriff's department said today. Detectives said Sergio Aguiar, 27, had no criminal record.

A sheriff's statement said Chief Coroner Krist Ah You is working with the state Department of Justice to expedite results from the DNA test within a week, instead of the usual four to six weeks.

Toxicology tests on Aguilar's body and on the body of the child, Sergio Axel Aguiar, will be taken. Those results are expected in about four weeks.

The sheriff's department encouraged anyone with information on the case to call the office at 209-525-7114. Callers also may call Crime Stoppers at 521-4636.

Editor's note: The spelling of Aguiar has been corrected from earlier reports. -----

UPDATE -- 12:40 p.m. TURLOCK � The toddler who was beaten to death on a dark country road Saturday night was killed by his father, The Bee learned today. At the scene of the beating, someone left a teddy bear and a rose today, apparently a memorial for the boy who was killed.

Sergio Aguilar, 27, parked his gold 2002 Toyota truck on West Bradbury Road near the intersection of South Blaker Road in rural Stanislaus County, then punch, kicked and stomped the small boy to death until a Modesto police officer, dropped on the scene by a helicopter, shot the man dead.

Birth records show the baby boy was born May 8, 2006. The mother, Frances Liliana Casian, did not want to comment this morning.

The boy's name has not been released.

Passers-by calling 911 at 10:13 p.m. described a horrific scene 10 miles west of Turlock and 15 miles south of Modesto. At least one tried to stop the attacker, who swung and slammed the toddler into the asphalt and stomped on him behind his parked four-door pickup.

Dan Robinson, 52, the chief of Crows Landing Volunteer Fire Department, who jousted with the man before police arrived, said the attack spoke of �demons� in the child and had a "total hollowness in his eyes."

A Stanislaus County Sheriff�s Department helicopter, flown by a deputy with a Modesto police officer in the second seat, was on patrol in the Turlock area. It arrived six minutes after the first 911 call, said deputy Royjindar Singh, sheriff�s department spokesman.

The helicopter landed in a cow pasture and the Modesto police officer jumped out. He drew his gun and commanded the man to stop from about 10 feet away from behind a set of electric and barbed wire fences. When the man "continued to stomp the child," the officer fired, Singh said.

The toddler was rushed to Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, where he was pronounced dead.

Singh said on Sunday that DNA testing may be required to identify the toddler because he was beaten beyond recognition.