Toddler Death Ruled a Homicide; Suspect Arrested

On Thursday, members of the Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on 23 month old Julius Lopez of Calwa. The manner of death was determined to be homicide and the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Wednesday night, homicide detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office arrested 24 year old Gage Hurtado. He has been booked into the Fresno County Jail on a felony charge of assault by means to likely to cause death to a child. His bail is set at $500,000. A photo of Hurtado is not available for release at this time.

Around 9:30 am on Wednesday, Fresno Police received a 911 call from a man (Gage Hurtado) saying a child was injured inside an apartment located on the 2400 block of S. Ninth Street in Calwa. A Fresno Police officer arrived and found the boy, Julius Lopez, to be non-responsive. The officer gave the boy CPR and allowed EMS to take over medical aid once they arrived. Around 10:15 am, the boy was pronounced deceased.

Officers detained a woman at the apartment, who is the mother of the child. They also detained Hurtado, who made the emergency call. He is the woman’s boyfriend and is not the father of the child. Detectives interviewed both of them. They later released the woman and arrested Hurtado.

The method for hurting the child and reason for doing so have not been determined. This remains an ongoing investigation. Detectives continue to follow leads in order to develop information that will help build their case. On Friday, the case will be turned into the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to contact Detective Juan Galindo at (559) 600-8215. You may also contact Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Blue Mass is designed to promote unity with law enforcement, firefighters and emergency services personnel. This is an opportunity to honor and pray for those who serve, as well as to remember those who have fallen. Bishop Ochoa will honor requests to bless vehicles driven by those public safety officers in attendance.

Detectives Investigating Toddler Death

Homicide detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the suspicious death of a toddler.

Around 9:30 am on Wednesday, Fresno Police received a 911 call from a man saying a child was injured inside an apartment located on the 2400 block of S. Ninth Street in Calwa. A Fresno Police officer arrived and found the boy, who would turn two years old next month, to be non-responsive. The officer gave the boy CPR and allowed EMS to take over medical aid once they arrived. Around 10:15 am, the boy was pronounced deceased.

Officers detained a woman at the apartment, who is the mother of the child. They also detained the man who made the emergency call. He is the woman’s boyfriend and is not the father of the child. Detectives are interviewing both of them and neither has been placed under arrest.

A preliminary report shows the man went to check on the boy while he was asleep in his room. The boy did not respond when he attempted to wake him up. The mother then came into the room to check on the child and he did not respond to her attempts either. The man then called 911 for help.

The Sheriff’s Office has taken over the investigation because the apartment unit is located in the county. Detectives are serving a search warrant in order for them and members of our Crime Scene Unit to collect evidence. As part of the investigation, they will be checking for prior calls for service at this address, as well as reviewing the child’s medical records.

A cause of death is not known at this time. Members of the Coroner’s Office are scheduled to perform an autopsy on the child Thursday morning.

Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to contact Detective Juan Galindo at (559) 600-8215. You may also contact Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Want a job with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office? Come by Fresno City College today & meet our recruitment team. Get answers to your specific questions.

Property Crimes Detectives Arrest Suspects Targeting Farm Workers’ Vehicles

9/20/17 - This is an update to this investigation. The man arrested Tuesday is not 34 year old Miguel Colima. His real name and age is Daniel Medina, 27 years old. Medina was using the name of Miguel Colima as a false identity. Detectives determined this to be the case and learned his real name. Due to this action, detectives placed a new felony charge on Medina for false impersonation of another.

9/19/17 - On Tuesday, property crimes detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office arrested 34 year old Miguel Colima and 29 year old Kacie Miller, both of Fresno. They face felony charges of burglary, possession of stolen property, identity theft and grand theft. Detectives contacted them while serving a search warrant at a home on the 300 block of N. Clark Street in Fresno. Detectives found some of the items which were reported stolen in the vehicle burglaries.

On the morning of Sunday, September 3rd, a group of farm workers were working in a grape vineyard when someone burglarized their vehicles. The workers parked two of their vehicles along a dirt road near Friant Road and Willow Avenue in Fresno. Both vehicles were not locked. When they returned to their vehicles around 11:30 am, they noticed some of their personal items were missing. This included driver licenses, social security cards, credit / debit cards, cash, tools, keys and a phone. The workers called the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and a deputy responded to take a report.

During the investigation, deputies learned that one of the victim’s bank cards was used to purchase food at the McDonald’s restaurant located near Blackstone and Bullard in Fresno. A surveillance camera captured a picture of a woman in a 2013 black Acura TSX using the stolen card.

Detectives used this lead to identify the woman. During their search for her, deputies were able to make connections to other reports of farm worker vehicle burglaries and attempted burglaries. These occurred at the following locations.

- September 1st : Near Kamm and De Wolf Avenues in Selma.
- September 15th : Cornelia and Rose Avenues near Raisin City.
- September 15th : Near Hwy. 41 and Manning Ave.
- September 15th : Near Cherry and Nebraska Avenues.

Anyone with additional information on the suspects in these cases is asked to contact the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111. You may also contact Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office would like to offer some tips to everyone in the public to help avoid becoming targets / victims of thieves.

• Always lock doors and windows to your vehicle.
• Remove all valuable items from inside your vehicle if parked outside.
• Never carry your social security card around with you. It should be stored in a safe place such as your home or a bank security deposit box. You are encouraged to memorize your number or only take the card with you when you have business that requires you to show your card. Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies do not use social security cards as a form of identification, so they will not ask to see your card.
• If you do become the victim of a crime, report it right away by calling the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or online at www.fresnosheriff.org