DeKalb man charged with attempted murder of baby, which mother didn’t report: police

DeKALB – A DeKalb man and woman have been charged after police found more than a dozen cellphone videos of the man strangling and intentionally hurting a 1-year-old, according to court records.

Police said the baby’s mother knew about the videos but did not report them to authorities.

In a case that DeKalb Police Chief David Byrd on Friday called a “terrible situation,” the pair, who reportedly told police they have been dating for several months, were arrested Thursday night.

Court records filed Friday in DeKalb County detail the disturbing videos. Between Oct. 12 and Dec. 6, Maximino Mendoza used his cellphone to record 15 videos of himself hurting the baby, police said. He then texted the videos to the baby’s mother, Destiny N. Conner, 24, who did not go to police to report a crime, according to court records.

Mendoza, 26, is charged with first-degree attempted murder, two felony counts of aggravated battery to a child, one count of felony aggravated domestic battery and two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

In a police interview, Mendoza admitted to hurting the child, according to court filings. Police said Mendoza told authorities that he knew the baby was 1.

“Maximino initially said he did it to ‘toughen up’ [the baby] but later said he was trying to get back at Destiny because he found conversations on Destiny’s phone between Destiny and other men,” police wrote in court filings.

The baby’s mother is charged with felony reckless conduct and misdemeanor child endangerment, according to DeKalb Police Department records. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.

In many of the videos involving strangulation, police said, the baby “appears to be gasping for air and in grave despair,” according to court records.

The videos were a key component that prosecutors from the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office used Friday to argue that Mendoza should be held in the DeKalb County jail pending trial. He appeared for his first court appearance in front of Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery, who ordered him detained.

“Your honor, I had an opportunity to see some of these videos myself,” lead prosecutor Alicia Caplan said. “It is clear that the child is in significant distress from the defendant’s actions.”

Mendoza will remain in police custody at the jail at least through his next hearing, which is set for 9 a.m. Jan. 27. Conner was booked at the DeKalb Police Department and then released with a notice to appear for a court hearing, Deputy Chief Jason Leverton confirmed. Her charges are not detainable under the SAFE-T Act.

At the time of his arrest, Mendoza was on probation for an unlawful use of a weapon conviction out of Cook County, Montgomery said.

Mendoza’s defense attorney, Emma Franklin of the county public defender’s office, argued that prosecutors couldn’t prove attempted murder because there was no evidence to show Mendoza intended to kill the child. She also called into question police report summaries filed in court.

“There seems to be some sort of jump to a conclusion that the detectives made in this case that Mr. Mendoza is the actual person that caused the fractured bones to this minor child,” Franklin said. “We don’t have any proof of that in front of us, your honor.”

Authorities were first alerted to the baby’s condition when the baby’s father brought the 1-year-old to an Elmhurst hospital Oct. 13. Hospital workers determined that the baby suffered a fractured left arm, police wrote in Friday court filings. On Dec. 10, Conner brought the baby to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb, where doctors found the baby had a leg spinal fracture.

Court filings show that Conner took her baby to the hospital multiple times after she noticed the baby acting differently.

Police said they spoke with Conner on Dec. 12 and Dec. 17. They said Conner told them that after she had had custody of the baby for one weekend, she dropped her baby off at a family member’s house. The family member then texted Conner “asking what she did” to the baby, according to court records.

Conner told police that she then learned the baby had a broken arm. Conner told police she had custody again of the baby starting in late November. Conner said she “realized [the baby] wasn’t jumping up to see her” like normal Dec. 10, so she took the baby to the hospital again, police said.

Doctors determined that the baby had a fractured leg, police said.

The mother said no one had cared for the baby besides her, according to court records, and she then told police she had videos of the baby on her phone.

DeKalb police seized Conner’s phone and searched it with a warrant, according to court records.

Conner’s phone contained more than 15 videos that show a man, later identified as Mendoza, holding a hand over the baby’s mouth and nose, restricting the baby’s breathing, slapping the baby in the face and pulling the baby’s hair, according to court records. The videos were sent from a contact labeled in Conner’s phone as “Max,” with a phone number matching Mendoza’s phone, police said.

“Despite Destiny viewing the above videos, Maximino still had access to her child,” police wrote in court filings.

Officers went to Conner’s DeKalb apartment Dec. 19, police said, and she let them in. They found Mendoza inside.

Mendoza gave his phone to police, according to court records. They found videos that showed Mendoza hurting the child, police said, including kicking, slapping and throwing the baby on the floor.

Police said Mendoza admitted to holding his hand over the baby’s mouth for up to 20 seconds, “which he knew, at the time, could have caused [the baby’s] death,” according to court records.

DeKalb police arrested Mendoza and Conner on Thursday. Authorities said they believe that the baby’s fractured arm and leg “were directly caused by the actions of Maximino,” according to court records.

Byrd said the baby was released into the custody of a family member.

This story was updated at 2:27 p.m. Dec. 20, 2024. Additional updates could occur.