After paramedics left North Colorado Medical Center by helicopter with 4-month-old Donovan Archuleta inside, Greeley police officer Fidel Sanchez collected Donovan’s clothing and returned to the apartment where the boy spent the final week of his life. It was not yet 2 a.m. Aug. 2, 2015, but Donovan had less than two hours to live. He would die at Children’s Hospital in Aurora, which was the helicopter’s destination.
Sanchez returned to the apartment where Donovan’s grandmother, Sandra Archuleta, 54, lived with her son, Nathan Archuleta, 33, the child’s father. It also was where the boy’s mother, Angelica Chavez, 30, dropped him off a week earlier on July 27. When she left him, the baby was happy and healthy, according to police reports.
Yet Tuesday, during the first day of trial for Sandra Archuleta, who is accused of child abuse resulting in her grandson’s death, prosecutor Ben Whitney recited a litany of injuries Donovan received while in the care of the Archuletas. That list included chemical burns to his face, abscesses to his gums, a torn frenulum, broken ribs and numerous marks that appeared to have been inflicted by a pair of tweezers. He also had pneumonia, Whitney said.
“This is Donovan after spending six days with (Sandra),” Whitney told the jury. “This is what she did to him.”
Both Archuletas told police Donovan got sick during his stay. In an effort to lower the baby’s fever, Sandra Archuleta said she soaked potatoes in vinegar and placed them on his face. She told officers it was a home remedy she learned from her mother and said she believed that’s what caused the chemical burns.
Annette Kundelius, Sandra Archuleta’s defense attorney, argued she was trying to help the child.
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