This is the murder of a 2 month old baby (See second news article).10-19-2010 New York:
A New York couple accused of sex trafficking is adding more charges to their rap sheet: murder of a three month old baby, Carlos Santillana.
Domingo Salazar and his wife, Norma Mendez, have been charged with the murder of a baby in a death that involved beating him and then placing the child's remains in a tub full of wet concrete for eleven months. The remains were found following the couple's sex trafficking arrest.
The child is believed to be the son of the girl the couple was trafficking. After Salazar empregnated the girl in Mexico, he brought her to the United States forced her into prostitution as a source of income for the couple.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the couple pled guilty to forcing the then 17 year-old mother to work as a prostitute in New York and outlying states.
The additional charges against the couple reads like a laundry list of bad crimes: manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, improper disposal of a body, reckless endangerment in the first degree, and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Both Salazar and Mendez are both "criminal aliens" -- a term used to describe aliens that commit a non-immigration crime. When more crimes are charged against individuals than the initial charge, the sentencing is typically delayed until the prosecution can build enough evidence for every crime. In the unique case of Domingo Salazar and Norma Mendez, their case is relatively clear cut and the District Attorney's office hopes that prosecution of the NY sex trafficking couple will remain on schedule. ..Source.. by Laura Strachan
Enslaved hooker's dead baby found during bust of sex trafficking ring
11-26-2009 New York:
A bust of a sex trafficking ring in Brooklyn led to a ghastly find - an enslaved hooker's baby entombed in concrete.
Feds and cops raided a Sunset Park flophouse late Tuesday and arrested the brothel's ringleaders and found a 10-gallon Rubbermaid container filled with cement.
X-rays revealed the body of a two-month-old boy sealed inside, officials said.
Domingo Salazar, 33, and Norma Mendez, 32, appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court last night on sex trafficking charges and could face additional counts, law enforcement sources said.
The couple, illegal immigrants from Mexico, forced a young woman into prostitution, viciously abused her and barred her from getting medical care for the infant when he fell ill last January, investigators said.
When the baby died, Salazar and Mendez allegedly forced the mom to dispose of the body in the container, which sat in the 40th St. apartment until yesterday.
"It's horrific," said Carmen Burgos, 45. who works nearby. "I can't have kids and I can't believe they did this to a baby. They couldn't be in their right minds."
The duo launched the prostitution ring out of their 40th St. apartment in April 2007, according to a federal affidavit.
Two months earlier, Salazar met the young woman in Mexico, got her pregnant, and smuggled her into the United States - telling her galpal Mendez was his sister, sources said.
She gave birth to Salazar's son soon after arriving in New York in November 2007, officials said. He still insisted she repay the $2,500 smuggling fee.
"She was working in a candy store but then she was forced to sell sex," said Special Agent in Charge James Hayes Jr. of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "She was in bad shape."
The woman was driven to customers across the city, made to service up to 25 clients a night and forced to turn over all her earnings, officials said.
Salazar and Mendez frequently abused the woman, punching her in the stomach, slashing her in the arm, hitting her in the head with a brick and bashing her in the face with a wooden board, officials said.
After investigators received a tip about the brothel, the woman, whose name was not released, was rescued from the 40th St. home and is now recovering.
"The girl was always in a short skirt and covered in bruises," said a neighbor. "You'd see different men coming in and out."
Investigators believe Salazar and Mendez also forced other immigrant women into prostitution but they have not been located. The accused pimps face 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
"The trafficking of human beings and sex slavery are unconscionable in this day and age and will not be tolerated," said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell. ..Source.. by
John Marzulli, Kerry Burke and Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
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