Authorities Baffled Over Toddler Killing

Investigators Unsure Why Father With No Criminal Record Or Mental Illness Would Beat "Demons" From 2-Year-Old Son

(AP)  Investigators struggled Tuesday to explain why a 27-year-old man with no criminal record and no apparent signs of mental illness savagely beat his toddler son to death on a dark country road.

Sergio Casian Aguiar, who worked at a supermarket in Turlock, was fatally shot by police Saturday night after he refused to stop attacking his 2-year-old son, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.

Aguiar's wife, Frances Liliana Casian, a kindergarten teacher, told detectives that she didn't know why Aguiar would brutally beat their child and said he didn't have any mental illness that she knew about, according to sheriff's spokesman, Royjindar Singh. Casian and Aguiar had been separated.

Results from toxicology tests to determine if Aguiar was drunk or on drugs are expected in about four weeks.

Detectives have been interviewing friends, neighbors and family members, but they still haven't found an explanation for the grisly killing, Singh said Tuesday.

"As of now, there's still no reason why he did this," Singh said. "Nobody said his behavior was strange at all. He was normal as far as they knew him."

Aguiar had immigrated from Mexico, and family members will be traveling from abroad to make funeral arrangements and meet with Stanislaus County investigators, Singh said.

The boy was staying with his father over the weekend because his mother was out of town. Aguiar didn't tell his roommate where he and his son were going when he left their house Saturday night, Singh said.

"We may never know why the suspect beat that child to death," Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson told The Modesto Bee. "We hope to find out, but it's going to take a lot more work."

Witnesses said they saw Aguiar stomping, kicking and punching the toddler next to his pickup truck, which was parked on a remote, unlit road in rural Stanislaus County around 10 p.m. Saturday.

Deborah McKain, 51, who lives in nearby Crows Landing, and her boyfriend, Dan Robinson, were driving on West Bradbury Road, just outside the San Joaquin Valley town of Turlock, when they spotted Aguiar on the roadside.

She told the San Francisco Chronicle that at first she thought he was "kicking garbage or something," but soon realized he was attacking a child. She said the child looked like a "rag doll," unconscious with his clothes falling off. She estimated that she saw him kick or stomp the boy at least 100 times.

Robinson, a volunteer fire chief in Crows Landing, and at least one other man tried to pull Aguiar away from the boy, but the suspect kept attacking the toddler.

Robinson told reporters that "there was a total hollowness in his eyes" and that Aguiar spoke calmly when he said he was beating the "demons" out of the boy. At one point Aguiar asked Robinson for a knife.

Minutes after at least three 911 calls were placed - at 10:19 p.m. - officers in a sheriff's helicopter landed in a nearby cow pasture. Modesto Police Officer Jerry Ramar jumped out, ran across a field to an electrified fence next to the road and ordered Aguiar to stop.

"Put your hands up. Step away from the baby," Ramar said, according to Singh.

When Aguiar stuck out his middle finger and kept kicking the boy, Ramar fired his gun, killing the suspect with a shot in the forehead.

Two deputies tried unsuccessfully to perform CPR on the boy before he was rushed to Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, where he was pronounced dead.

Ramar, who has been a law enforcement officer for more than six years, has been placed on paid administrative leave, a routine response for officer-involved shootings.

Because the boy was beaten beyond recognition, investigators plan to use DNA tests to confirm that the toddler was Aguiar's son. They also plan to test blood that was found inside the cab of Aguiar's Toyota pickup, said Christianson.

"This event didn't start at Bradbury Road. The blood and other evidence leads us to believe the suspect may have ended up there, but the crime really started someplace else," Christianson told the Bee. "That child probably suffered fatal injuries before the motorists arrived on the scene."

Aguiar worked at a 24-hour FoodMaxx in Turlock, where he was described as a good employee, according to a company spokesman.

Ronda Donner, manager of the Mulberry Mobile Park in Turlock, where the family lived for a few years before they moved last year, said she was "blown away" by the news.

"Nice, no trouble. Their rent was always paid on time," Donner told the Chronicle. "I'm still kind of shocked. He didn't seem like that kind of person."

Authorities said they had previously misspelled the perpetrator's name as Aguilar.

[faith_in_w]

See? I told everyone it was demons. And they all laughed at me.

[observer2020]

See? I told everyone it was demons. And they all laughed at me.

Posted by faith_in_w

And I''m still laughing AT you--actually not laughing...I''m cringing away from you. Just because this sick person said he was beating the demons out of the poor child, doesn''t make it right by any means. ANYBODY that uses the excuse of beating the demons out of anybody is sick and should be locked away to prevent them from harming anyone...including themselves, unfortunately. People that take religion to this extreme are not well at all. And you should be watched extremely closely too. People need to check their moral compass; there''s not enough of that nowadays.

[mjm117]

Aside from the sick behavior from the father, why the heck did no one else physically intervene? I don''t mean a "hey, stop kicking that kid"...come on now. Without hesitation I would have tackled that a hole and put him asleep.

[mjm117]

Seems as though the parents were seperated/divorced...my bet is, the father was lashing out and trying to hurt the mom in the worst way possible.

[faith_in_w]

observer2020, OK how are we supposed to get demons out of people if we arent allowed to beat them out?

[mjm117]

observer2020, OK how are we supposed to get demons out of people if we arent allowed to beat them out?


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Posted by faith_in_w at 12:09 PM : Jun 18, 2008

I believe his statement was more along the lines of calling people sick who USE THE EXCUSE of beating demons out of someone while doing harm.

your satan had NOTHING to do with this

[observer2020]

Um...faith_in_w..if you want to beat the demons out of anyone...maybe you should start by looking in the mirror. I believe in God, however, I never, EVER, shove it in anyone else''s face. Religion should be kept close to ones heart and not waved in everyone''s face. You are probably THE scariest blogger that I''ve ever seen. And that''s saying alot. Beating someone for whatever reason is never the answer. Maybe you should try turning the other cheek. You are quite a Christian.

[msay3]

See? I told everyone it was demons. And they all laughed at me.

Posted by faith_in_w at 11:46 AM : Jun 18, 2008

You are a miserable excuse for a human being....

[mjm117]

the people that did not physically STOP this guy are almost as bad as the father in my opinion. What has society come to when people don''t stop a child from being stomped. Sickening.

[displeased]

My guess is he had severe anger management issues or was on some powerful drugs. Judging from his blind rage throughout the incident, I''d go with drugs.

[faith_in_w]

observer2020, you cant turn the other cheek with demons, it calls for serious action.

[observer2020]

There is no excuse whatsoever to beat anyone. And to beat them to death is beyond belief. NOT to mention that this was a CHILD! Why can''t you understand that? I assume that your good Christianity is getting in the way. You are the type of person that a 10-foot pole is no where near long enough to keep you away from me. I would say God help you, but I don''t even think He has anything help you with. Your demons run very deep.

[gopack443]

If anyone would have tried to physically stop the assault they would have been arrested for battery but some things are worth going to jail for.

[mjm117]

If anyone would have tried to physically stop the assault they would have been arrested for battery but some things are worth going to jail for.


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Posted by gopack443 at 12:52 PM : Jun 18, 2008



I doubt someone would have been arrested for battery in this case gopack443. Although I do agree it would have been worth the risk.

SHAME ON THOSE WHO STOOD BY

[jetlizhan]

wouldn''t it take at the very least several minutes to kick and punch a child 100 times? could this couple not do anything but count? i just don''t get it. GRAB SOMETHING, STICK OR WHATEVER, AND START BEATING THE S.HIT OUT OF THIS MANIAC!!!!!!!!!!!

[erasmus81]

Aside from the sick behavior from the father, why the heck did no one else physically intervene? I don''''t mean a "hey, stop kicking that kid"...come on now. Without hesitation I would have tackled that a hole and put him asleep. Posted by mjm117 at 12:06 PM : Jun 18, 2008

It is beyond me, how anyone could stand by and watch this happen. Especially if there was more than one person. I am a woman and there is no way that I would have stood there watching that. I would have also tackle him. I may not have been able to put him to sleep, but it wouldn''t have been because I wasn''t trying.

[questionnews]

If he had only realized that he was the demon, he would have been beating his own head with a crow bar.

[mjm117]

It is beyond me, how anyone could stand by and watch this happen. Especially if there was more than one person. I am a woman and there is no way that I would have stood there watching that. I would have also tackle him. I may not have been able to put him to sleep, but it wouldn''''t have been because I wasn''''t trying.




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Posted by erasmus81 at 01:24 PM : Jun 18, 2008


Exactly. I would have risked my own life to protect his. That man should have been stopped. It sickens me that 911 received 3 calls, yet no one attempted to stop him with nothing more then words

[ccdsswrkr08]

This is just as bad (if not worse) than the crowd that watched that guy in california get hit by a car, watched the car speed off, and no one even called 911. The guy laid in the middle of the road and people just walked by, cars swerved to avoid him but no one stopped. It''s sickening what our world has come to these days when you see someone obviously in trouble and don''t do anything to help.

[edgardebbins]

I guess this means Aguiar won''t be giving anyone the finger again anytime soon. Nice shooting by the cop. A forehead shot isn''t so easy to do.

[mandylou4u]

It makes me wonder how long the man and woman were together. Did he ever show his wife any signs of being mentally off? My hubby has a mental disability and has been known to fly off the handle at times but we have meds for him. I feel so sad for this woman, she has lost her child and her hubby. You never know, they could have found out that he had problems and could possibly get him on the right track. I still, like most everyone else here, don''t see why no one stoped him. I would have beat the dog s.hit out of this guy, even if that meant me getting hurt too.

[questionnews]

For those that don''t understand why nobody tried to stop him, I can only guess that people are beginning to fear getting involved.
Maybe:
1) They thought he might have been armed with a knife or gun.
2) Fear of getting sued if they hurt him while trying to stop him. (See ACLU)
3) Didn''t think it was actually an infant since nobody would ever do that to a small child.

Say someone was packing a gun & used it on this guy. The odds of you going to jail for using your gun on this guy are quite depending on how the law views it or in what state & county you are in. At the very least you will be tied up in court proceedings for years.

[mjm117]

For those that don''''t understand why nobody tried to stop him, I can only guess that people are beginning to fear getting involved.
Maybe:
1) They thought he might have been armed with a knife or gun.
2) Fear of getting sued if they hurt him while trying to stop him. (See ACLU)
3) Didn''''t think it was actually an infant since nobody would ever do that to a small child.

Posted by Questionnews at 02:49 PM : Jun 18, 2008


1) They thought he might have been armed with a knife or gun.

I can honestly say, that fear would have not stopped me. I would have charged full throttle


2) Fear of getting sued if they hurt him while trying to stop him. (See ACLU)

It is a sad day if when in a time of need will sit back and wonder, geez, I wonder if I will get sued. that is BS. In that moment, that thought would have been the furthest in my mind


3) Didn''''t think it was actually an infant since nobody would ever do that to a small child.

Feasible, however 3 people did call 911 to report it. Maybe at first glance that could have been thought...but clearly at some point everyone realized what was going on. He was still beating the child when the cops were there.

WHERE THE F*CK WERE THE PEOPLE THEN? EATING POPCORN?

SICK SICK SICK SICK SICK

[last121868]

This is just as bad (if not worse) than the crowd that watched that guy in california get hit by a car, watched the car speed off, and no one even called 911. The guy laid in the middle of the road and people just walked by, cars swerved to avoid him but no one stopped. It''''s sickening what our world has come to these days when you see someone obviously in trouble and don''''t do anything to help.


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Posted by ccdsswrkr08 at 01:53 PM : Jun 18, 2008
+ report abuse
The incident you are referring to took place in Hartford, Connecticut, not California.. Still sick!

[xxunknown]

faith_in_w: All I can say is wow. You are disturbed.

[informed9]

Again, why didn''t someone hit him with a car or crowbar? Or at least throw something at him? I have a 21 month old. I wouldn''t want to leave him parentless, but how could I explain to him that I stood by and watched another baby be beaten to death? If people thought he was kicking trash, why did they stop and observe anyhow? My husband, my father, my grandfather for God''s sake would have beaten the *** out of him, and I certainly would have tried. I''m a mental health professional, I''m fully aware of the strength and intensity of mentally ill persons or persons under the influence, but I would have tried to do more...

[txgrouch2004]

Why doesn''t the volunteer fire chief know how to restrain a person without doing harm? Why did NOBODY know what to do except shoot the man dead?

Didn''t ANYBODY there know how to put someone into a headlock? Wouldn''t that have been better than shooting a man who was clearly deranged, possibly on drugs???

This is the most unbelievable part of the story.

[j_flood]

Sure is a lot of ''jumpin to conclusions'' in these comments.

The poor mother is left without a child and without an explanation. May the mother recover and the child rest in peace.

[nobdehom]

Yea right... he is a real nice "normal" guy! the girlfriend just didn''t know what mentally ill was....this is beyond being on drugs! He just could not cope being left alone with this kid!

[sosickofthis]

one thing is for sure...he''s a demon

[jboxton]

What is the most unbelievable, txgrouch2004, is that you are that big of a liberal d**che that you think this man should have just been subdued. God you weak kneed liberals are making our country a bunch of pansies.

[bluedog8604]

Having been a law enforcement officer before, I understand why he did what he did. I was attacked before serving a probation violation warrant. The guy was beating me and a partner severely, and the quickest way to disarm him was to fire at him. He didn''t die, but the shot was enough to knock him to the ground where he was able to be apprehended. As an officer, you are trained to Protect and Serve. If that protection means taking the life of the attacker to save the victim, you do so. Plus, the officers had to deal with an electric fence in the process. Instead of attempting to turn the fence off, scale the fence, and run at the suspect, officers did the right thing by ending the situation as quickly as possible. One person who commented asked where everyone else was. Police officers are not mind readers, nor are they clairvoyants. We cannot look into a crystal ball and see what is going to happen when it happens. Our only hope is to get to the scene as quickly as possible and do everything in our power to reestablish order in that situation. I have worked as a SWAT officer, have taken 7 forms of martial arts, and have had numerous classes on non-lethal takedown manuevers. Yet, none of that matters when you are either taken by surprise or faced with obstacles such as an electric fence. The officers found blood in the cab; it is very possible the boy was beaten on the way to the location where the incident ended. Officers had no way of knowing until someone reports it.

[txgrouch2004]

BlueDog8604
none of that matters when you are either taken by surprise or faced with obstacles such as an electric fence.
-----------
I understand that. I was talking abou the OTHER persons, including a volunteer fire chief, who were on the same side of the fence, standing next to the guy.

Doesn''t EVERYBODY learn how to do a headlock on the playground at school??? The guy wasn''t thinking rationally, it wouldn''t have taken much to outsmart him from behind.

I don''t mean to say "go soft" on they guy. I''m saying, WHY DID ONLOOKERS WAIT FOR THE POLICE TO ARRIVE instead of taking the guy down themselves and STOP HIM FROM KICKING AND STOMPING???

I really have to wonder about onlookers who just stand there and count off 100 STOMPS.

[txgrouch2004]

jboxton wrote
you are that big of a liberal d**che that you think this man should have just been subdued. God you weak kneed liberals are making our country a bunch of pansies.
-----------
And as a special reply to you - UP YOURS!

[guysdigdirt]

That poor child, subjected to the abuse from the person who should be protecting him.

[guysdigdirt]

When a person has to be afraid of the one person that should be there to protect them from the harm in the world it is a very sad and scary place.

You think someone should protect the child.

Can you imagine what was going through the child''s mind as it all started and was going on. It hurts to think of a child having to go through that.

[txgrouch2004]

guysdigdirt wrote
You think someone should protect the child.
-----------------------
A whole group of other adults were there. THEY DID NOTHING. They just waited for the police - who were thwarted by an electric fence.

We are brainwashed to be SOOO AFRAID of judging others. We are brainwashed NOT TO INTERVENE. We are brainwashed NOT TO TAKE THE LAW INTO OUR OWN HANDS, and LEAVE IT TO THE POLICE.

Then when the police get there, they''re afraid of an electric cattle fence. I GREW UP AROND ONE OF THOSE. It will give you a good jolt, but you''ll live through it. THAT LITTLE KID DIDN''T.

We''ve degenerated into being so passive and apathetic that PEOPLE JUST STAND AND COUNT THE STOMPS instead of stopping somebody. We''re afraid we MIGHT BE MAKING A MISTAKE.

[patriot12436]

bluedog8604
Well said. I aslo have trained in martial arts. I was attacked by a female suspect that broke my wrist. When they are mentally or drug induced high they feel nothing and are incredibly strong. I comend this officer for his quick reactions in handling this situation. I am sorry he wasn;''t there soon enough to save the child but agree he was probably already dead.

[patriot12436]

txgrouch2004
I consider my self a liberal and am a strong supporter of the death penalty. Without having been there i can not say the people didn''t do all they could to stop this man, but they are not trained to deal with situations like this. The officer arrived, made a mental evaluation and acted decisevely. I applaud this officer for his action. He did what had to be done.

[patriot12436]

txgrouch
Firemen are not trained in techniques to subdue. I t isn''t part of their job. I have seen suspects like this beat repeatedly even with clubs and have no effect on them physically. The bystanders were not adequate to stop him and i do not blame them.

[patriot12436]

I can''t believe eveeryone blaming the bystanders. It clearly states they tried to stop him. Without being there , there is no way you can know the circumstances. It took a police officer who was trained for these situations to deall with this man. Until you have wlaked in their shoes you do not know what you would have doe. I commend these people for trying to stop him.

[patriot12436]

flangesqueal
And these comments are relevant to this case how ?

[patriot12436]

txfrouch2004
Have you ever had to subdue anyone ?

[aldon61]

This taco folder''''s head was filled with the same kind of worms they drown in their ********* tequila.

Santeria-worshipping ********, worshipping a statue of a skeleton in Mexico City and tattooing the Virgin on their backs as ''''protection'''' against another Beaner knifing them.

Totally worthless gutter trash.


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Posted by FlangeSqueal at 06:30 AM : Jun 19, 2008

I pity you for your miserable existance. Hopefully you''ll live a long life and will be able to atone for your racial hatred before God judges you.

[missybelle-2009]

Wow, lots of hate and blame coming through. Since no one is posting that they were actually at the scene, I''m going to go out on a limb here and say that the criticisms are out of line, and you don''t know what happened. I''m getting from the report that people did try to stop this guy. Unfortunately, it seems he was in an instoppable rage to the point that even police officers had to make the decision to put him down, which decision does not bother me one bit. Glad he''s gone, whether he had a history of anything or not. And FlangeSqueal, wow... you got some anger issues that make you really seem like an unpleasant person.

[txgrouch2004]

patriot12436 asked
Have you ever had to subdue anyone ?
------------------
Yes. Both in training and in real life.

In training, the instructor assured me that, with all his own training and experience in competetion matches, he was not able to break out of my restraint.

In real life, an untrained person has no chance. I can subdue a person in seconds, and he has no chance of escaping. I HAVE DONE IT.

And I have only a few hours of training. I''m no expert. I''ve never been in competition.

[txgrouch2004]

This is a BIG PROBLEM in our society today. We''ve been so brainwashed NOT TO INTERVENE and LEAVE IT TO THE POLICE, that we don''t even know how to intervene physically when we need to.

So we just stand there helplessly and watch a man stomp a toddler to death - or stomp on a toddler''s corpse. Parents just watch helplessly while their teenagers punch holes in the wall of their house and beat up their mothers. BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. It''s become socially unaccpetable even for parents to spank their children anymore.

It sounds like the bystanders just tried to grab the guy''s arm, and he shook them off. WRONG TACTIC. The cop was afraid of getting a few harmless jolts from a cattle fence while he jumped over it - or maybe one too many pounds overweight and HE COULDN''T JUMP IT ANYWAY (I''m assuming it was grid wire, not open horizontal wires that you can just duck through).

Posters make excuses that a fire chief hasn''t been professionally trained in restraints, it''s not his job. THAT''S THE PROBLEM I''M TALKING ABOUT.

EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW HOW TO RESTRAIN A VIOLENT PERSON. It doesn''t need to be your job. IT''S A PERSONAL ABILITY EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE.

And when it takes only a few hours of training to learn it, there''s no reason not to.

[informed9]

As a small child I was attacked by a pack of dogs and two people watched from their porch. One very old man stopped his car and beat them off of me. I would do the same for your child. I thank him to this day, and I carry bear mace.

[jdubs63]

erasmus81.I don''t BELIEVE YOU...

[patriot12436]

txgrouch2004
Have you ever had to restrain someone who was mentally deranged or high on drugs ? There is a big difference.