The baby was dead and the mom allegedly told police she had suffocated her with a pillow.
But the autopsy results weren’t in, leaving the cause of death a mystery, Brookhaven police said. City detectives charged Estefania Roman-Aguilar with only cruelty to children, not murder, against five-month-old Camila Aguilar, who died on Sept. 21, 2016.
The mom got out of jail on bond a week after her arrest in October.
Now, the U.S. Marshals Service is searching for her on upgraded charges of murder, Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta said Wednesday. Authorities think she might’ve left the state.
Brookhaven police upgraded the charge to murder on Nov. 2, 2016, two days after jail logs say the mom was released. The department said it waited to upgrade the charges until the autopsy results were finished, under the advice of the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
A grand jury returned an indictment last month formally charging 19-year-old Roman-Aguilar with malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children. A motive is unclear in the killing.
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She is apparently no longer at Epic Gardens Apartments on Buford Highway, where the child died. Crime Stoppers said authorities believe she’s living “somewhere in the southeast.”
Maybe in Georgia, Florida or South Carolina.
She may be with her father, Jose Hilario-Gomez, 40, who is also wanted in DeKalb County on an armed robbery charge.
Anyone with information about the two or where they might be living can call Crime Stoppers at 404 577-8477. All callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward up to $2,000 if the information leads to an arrest.
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