The brutal chain of events that killed a 20‑day‑old baby in Lanzarote

The father faces a sentence of between 10 and 15 years in prison for a completed homicide.

Impactful details were released last Friday in a ruling issued by the Third Investigative Court of Arrecife, confirming that the baby’s father has been taken into custody. The infant, only twenty days old, died under mysterious circumstances in the municipality of Tinajo.

The document recounts the events of 12 April. While driving his vehicle, the father heard his baby crying. According to his own statements, the sound of the cries made him nervous, and he began shaking the infant’s car seat, even admitting that he might have struck the child. The baby’s skin turned purple and he stopped breathing.

Instead of seeking immediate medical assistance, the father continued driving for about ten minutes. He eventually stopped, grabbed the baby forcefully, and, as he demonstrated during the reconstruction of the incident, shook him again. By that point, he acknowledged that the baby was already lifeless.

When they finally arrived at the Tinajo health centre—accompanied by the mother—the facility was closed, rendering the attempt to obtain care futile. The local police were called, and through cardiopulmonary resuscitation they managed to restore the baby’s pulse. He was rushed to the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital in Arrecife, then transferred to the Maternal‑Infant Hospital in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The child died on 15 April, at twenty‑three days old, with the cause of death recorded as violent cranio‑encephalic trauma.

The father could be charged with completed homicide, a crime that carries a penalty of ten to fifteen years in prison.