Trial postponed yet again for woman accused of beating 3-year-old boy

IDAHO FALLS — The trial for a 25-year-old woman accused of severely beating a child and causing brain injuries, has now been continued six times — dragging the case out more than a year.

Lorena Ocampo-Garcia, of Idaho Falls, was charged with felony aggravated battery and felony use of a deadly weapon in alleged beating of a 3-year-old child in February 2016.

Ocampo-Garcia is accused of using a 14-inch long hard plastic toy to strike the child, who she was babysitting on Feb. 23, 2016. EMT’s were called to her home where they said the boy was unresponsive, vomiting and bleeding from his nose and mouth.

Ocampo-Garcia pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in March 2016. A jury trial was scheduled for July 19, that was then continued to November 29, which was again continued to December 5, which was again continued to February 27, 2017, which was again continued to May 15, which was again continued to July 24.

Randolph B. Neal, then Ocampo-Garcia’s attorney, asked Judge Dane Watkins to delay the trial for the first time back in March 2016 so he could obtain medical records pertaining to the alleged victim. He also raised questions about police investigators assigned to the case and stated interrogation techniques used to get confessions can not always be trusted.

Neal was privately hired by Ocampo-Garcia, but on Thursday, Neal told EastIdahoNews.com he no longer represent Ocampo-Garcia. In November, Trent Grant was appointed public defender for Ocampo-Garcia.

However, Grant has since left the public defenders office, so on April 20, Ocampo-Garcia was appointed a new public defender — Rocky Wixom.

Bonneville County prosecutor Daniel Clark tells EastIdahoNews.com his office has objected multiple times to the continuances.

According to court records, after EMTs arrived, the child was rushed to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where doctors said he had an internal brain injury, forcing them to medically induced the child into a coma to “limit his movement and stimulation” in an effort to reduce brain swelling, according to court records. He was later admitted for surgery and placed in the intensive care unit.

Court records show the child was incapable of moving the right side of his body as a result of his injuries.

Ocampo-Garcia originally told investigators the child threw himself into a pile of 2×4 boards, but later admit to detectives that she grabbed the child by his hair and pushed him to the ground. At one point, documents show Ocampo-Garcia picked up a toy and hit him “no more than eight times” in the head.

Court records show photographs taken of the child’s hands, according to investigators they were bruised as a result of him trying to protect his head. Ocampo-Garcia confirmed with police that the boy held his hands to his head while she hit him with the toy.

Investigators took possession of the toy, which was more than 14 inches in length, made of hard plastic and weighed 1.25 lbs.

Ocampo-Garcia was arrested in Madison County on Thursday, Feb. 25 and booked into the Bonneville County Jail. She posted $30,000 bond in February and, as a condition of her bond, is not allowed to have any unsupervised contact with children.