NORTHAMPTON — A man who had been living in Maryland has returned to Hampshire County to face an indictment in the overdose death of his infant son in Amherst in 2019.
Isaac Villalobos, also known as Angel Carattini-Rivera, 35, was arraigned in Hampshire Superior Court on Friday on charges of manslaughter, assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, reckless endangerment of a child, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child under 14.
His public defender, Alan Rubin, waived the formal reading of the charges and said Villalobos, who did not speak at the arraignment, pleaded not guilty.
Judge Richard Carey approved an agreement between prosecutors and the defense to set bail at $250,000 cash.
Villalobos had declined to fight extradition to Massachusetts and arrived in Hampshire County on Thursday. Sgt. William Menard of the Amherst Police Department told the Gazette that a town officer and a Massachusetts State Police trooper drove to Maryland to pick up Villalobos.
According to the DA’s office, a Hampshire County grand jury indicted Villalobos after a three-year investigation into the death of his 4-month-old son in the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2019.
The office of the chief medical examiner determined the cause of the infant’s death to be acute doxylamine intoxication, which prosecutors said was caused by an overdose of an adult antihistamine medication that is sometimes used to treat insomnia.
The baby’s mother was at work in Easthampton at the time the medication was administered with an infant syringe, prosecutors said.
After the indictment, an arrest warrant was issued for Villalobos in all 50 states. He is due in court again on Sept. 12.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.