A 23-year-old California man faces several felony charges after police say he shot a 10-month-old baby in the head outside of a house party.
Marcos Echartea allegedly fired three rounds into the driver’s side of a car where the baby, her mother, and her friend were sitting on early Sunday.
According to the Fresno Police Department, Echartea was rejected by the baby’s mother, Deziree Menagh at the party. Echartea apparently tried to get the 18-year-old to sit in his lap, but she shut him down.
Uncomfortable with his advances, she took her baby and left with a male friend.
They drove off but returned shortly after.
While they were parking the car, Menagh says they were approached by Echartea who shot into the vehicle.
Menagh and her friend were unharmed, but baby Fayth Percy had to get bullet fragments removed from her head.
“We have every reason to believe that Marcos Echartea knew baby Fayth was in that vehicle when he fired three rounds into the vehicle,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Echartea has been arrested in connection to the incident and charged with three counts of attempted murder, discharging a firearm in a negligent manner and causing injury to a child, NBC reports.
Fayth Percy is currently in critical, but stable condition.
“I know the parents are broken,” Dyer told the Fresno Bee. “They are hurting. We held hands at the hospital and prayed for the baby, and we’re asking that everyone in this community come together and pray for baby Fayth for a complete recovery.”
