FRESNO, Calif. — A young Marine who was called back from a mission to Iraq to be with his ailing wife just before she died of childbirth complications was arrested on suspicion of murdering his newborn son.

Authorities did not disclose a motive for the slaying, but the Marine, 20-year-old Robert Quiroz, told a TV station in September that he felt overwhelmed as a single parent of two and struggled to accept his son.

"I didn't know how to feel about him. The same day he was born, my wife died," he told KMPH in Fresno. "The feelings inside of me, I kind of wanted to push him away, but he's my son. My wife gave him to me."

Quiroz was jailed on Monday. Investigators said his son died of beating injuries, but they would not elaborate. Authorities planned to file charges Wednesday.

After the infant's death on Saturday, authorities took Quiroz's 18-month-old daughter into protective custody.

In August, Quiroz deployed to a training camp in Kuwait with the Ninth Communication Battalion from Camp Pendleton. He was called home three days later with the news that his wife had given birth to a boy, but had suffered an aneurysm after breast feeding the child.

Quiroz arrived in Fresno faced with ending her life support and assuming sole responsibility for their two children.

"This is an absolute tragedy," Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. "When you consider the fact that we have a 3-month-old child that has been murdered, it takes a toll."

Quiroz's Web page on MySpace.com, posted under the screen name "I..MISS..HER," appears to have been an outlet for his loss.

"On August 21, 2006, my whole world ended. For those of you who don't know, my beautiful wife Candice died," reads Quiroz's site. "Just because you see me smile and you see me laugh doesn't come close to the way I feel inside. I will never be as happy as I was until I'm with my wife again."

After his wife's death, Quiroz was permanently transferred to the Fresno-based Marine Reserve Training Center. He moved in with his sister-in-law and her boyfriend, who helped him look after the children.

"With these two kids, they're a handful," Quiroz said in the television report. "It's ... really hard right now."

At the training center, Quiroz was assigned to sort toys for holiday donations and other administrative duties.

"He was quiet," said Maj. Timothy Rizner. "Like a good Marine, you'd tell him to get mission accomplished and he'd go off and do it."

Police had started a child abuse investigation in October after Quiroz's son was hospitalized for a broken arm. The infant was placed in protective custody, but the county Department of Children and Family Services released him to his father after a few days, police said.

Child welfare officials said they would investigate why the baby was returned to his father.

"This has absolutely devastated this department," said Catherine Huerta, the department's acting director. "Our job is to protect kids, and when something like this happens, it's a failure."

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

"He that hath no stomach for this fight, let him depart"

I've been reading a lot lately about PTSD cases that the Marines are simply chaptering because Drugs, Alcohol and other manifesting symptoms of the Disorder.  The truely tragic part about those cases is they potentially lose the VA benefits they so desperately need to help them with their problems.

"He that hath no stomach for this fight, let him depart"

Lance Cpl. Robert Quiroz, 20, did not speak or enter a plea during his first appearance in Fresno County Superior Court. He is charged with murder, two counts of assault on a child causing death, and corporeal injury to a child in the death of his son, Roman Quiroz. His arraignment was scheduled for Dec. 11.

Defense lawyer Ernest Kinney said after the hearing that the death was a case of "improper handling," not murder.

"He definitely played a role. The issue is we think it's absolutely not a murder case," Kinney said. "Our position is that it was an accident."

Kinney said Quiroz was feeding the boy Nov. 18 and accidentally bumped his head when placing him on a sofa. After checking on his toddler daughter in another room, he found the infant choking on his own vomit. He tried to give his son CPR and possibly broke two of the boy's ribs, he said.

Investigators said Roman died of beating injuries after he was found unconscious in the family's Fresno apartment.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the slaying, but the Marine told a TV station in September that he felt overwhelmed as a single parent of two and struggled to accept his son.

Quiroz was called home in August, three days after being deployed to a training camp in Kuwait, after his wife gave birth to the boy but suffered an aneurysm shortly after. He arrived in Fresno faced with ending her life support and assuming sole responsibility for their two children.

A state agency also is looking into whether Fresno County social workers failed to investigate whether abuse was happening after the infant suffered a broken arm in October.

Quiroz is being held at the Fresno County jail in lieu of $2.3 million bail.

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

Airborne-

FRESNO, Calif. — A Marine accused of killing his 3-month-old son shortly after his wife died of childbirth complications pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and child abuse charges.

Lance Cpl. Robert Quiroz, 20, was arrested Nov. 20 on suspicion of killing his son, Roman Quiroz, after officials found the infant unconscious in the family's apartment. The child died at a hospital of blunt force injuries, authorities said.

Quiroz was pulled from his first tour of duty in Iraq in August to attend to his wife, who suffered an aneurysm after Roman was born. When she died, the Marine began raising Roman and the couple's toddler on his own, a responsibility he was not equipped to handle, said his lawyer, Ernest Kinney.

"I think it's a case of negligence, not murder," Kinney said. "We'll be looking for an acquittal or a ruling of involuntary manslaughter."

Police started a child abuse investigation in October after the baby was hospitalized with a broken arm. The county Department of Children and Family Services gave the child back to Quiroz after three days because staff could not prove the boy had been abused.

The state Department of Social Services is looking into county social workers' handling of the case.

Quiroz was being held at the Fresno County Jail in lieu of $2.3 million bail.

A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 10.

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush