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Couple accused of killing and burying child in southeast New Mexico
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A couple was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly suffocating a baby because she was crying and burying the body in their backyard in Eddy County.
Manuel Guillen, 32, is charged with intentional abuse of a child resulting in death and tampering with evidence in the 2023 case. Brianna Stallings, 25, is charged with tampering with evidence and conspiracy. Guillen and Stallings, both of Carlsbad, were released on bond to await trial, according to court records.
On Sept. 6, relatives called 911 to report the couple’s 1-year-old as missing.
Officers met with Guillen and Stallings, who told them that in September 2023 Stallings rolled over her daughter while sleeping inside their car, suffocating her, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed at Eddy County Magistrate Court. Stallings then told police she and Guillen wrapped the baby in a blanket and trash bag and buried her in their backyard.
“I know we should have called 911, but we were afraid,” Guillen told police.
Guillen’s father told Eddy County Sheriff’s Office deputies that Guillen and Stallings would yell at each other when the baby cried, the affidavit states. Authorities dug up the baby’s body, and on Dec. 18, the Office of the Medical Investigator found the baby had fractured ribs and fentanyl in her system at the time of death.
On Wednesday, when confronted by police with the autopsy results, Guillen told detectives he grabbed the baby by her leg because she was crying and sat on top of her until she stopped then performed CPR “over 100 times,” according to the affidavit. Guillen also told detectives he snorted two fentanyl pills before the baby started crying.
