Foster mom indicted in girl's death
Grand jury
Dunia Soledad Moreno faces murder
charges and others on the girl's sister
September 19, 2006
By Stuart Tomlinson
The Oregonian GRESHAM
A Multnomah County grand jury Monday indicted a Gresham woman for
the murder of her 2-year-old foster daughter and also for criminally
mistreating the dead girl's sister, according to court documents.
Dunia Soledad Moreno, 29, was
arrested Sept. 9 in the Labor Day death of Keyana Bravo-Hamilton.
Keyana was pronounced dead at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center after
being taken there for treatment of internal injuries. Hospital
officials grew suspicious and called Gresham police, who
investigated the death as a homicide.
The grand jury also named Soledad's
husband, 38-year-old Armando Moreno Garcia, as co-defendant for
first-degree criminal mistreatment. According to the indictment, the
couple was charged for "intentionally and knowingly withholding
necessary and adequate medical attention from Keyana
Bravo-Hamilton." Moreno was arrested and booked Monday afternoon
into the Justice Center Jail, police said.
Prosecutors alleged that Keyana's
death was part of a larger pattern of abuse that occurred between
June 16 and Sept. 4.
The grand jury indicted Soledad on
four charges, including: one count of murder by abuse; one count of
murder; one count of criminal mistreatment of Keyana's sister,
Jasmine Hamilton, 3; and one count of criminal mistreatment for
withholding medical treatment.
According to Gresham police, a
murder by abuse charge applies when a child younger than 14 dies
through a pattern of assault. Soledad, who is being held without
bail in the Justice Center Jail, will be arraigned on the charges
this morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Jasmine Hamilton and the couple's
birth daughters, ages 6 and 21/2, were removed from the home and are
in state custody. Officials with the Oregon Department of Human
Services said state child welfare workers, along with police and
prosecutors, are looking at all aspects of the case and are expected
to release their findings in a report early next month.
Alberto Gomez, who lives in the
same Gresham duplex as the Morenos, said he noticed Keyana was
shaking when he picked her up on Sept. 2 -- two days before police
learned she was dead. She had a purple ring around her mouth, and
her body felt bloated, Gomez said.
A few days earlier, Gomez said, he
saw Jasmine with bruises on her face. Soledad told him the girl had
fallen.
Amanda Hamilton, the girls' aunt,
said Keyana's remains were cremated and the family held a funeral
for the girl last Wednesday.
"It was beautiful and very
emotional," Hamilton said of the service. "We're all doing a lot
better now, but we want to find out why and how this happened. It's
horrifying."
Stuart Tomlinson: 503-294-5940;
stuarttomlinson@news.oregonian.com
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