Antonio Angel

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Remembering Antonio

Antonio Angel was only five months old.

At five months, a baby is completely dependent upon the adults around him. Antonio could not explain when something hurt, ask someone else for help, or remove himself from an unsafe situation. He had only begun his life. There is very little publicly preserved about Antonio's personality or the ordinary moments of his five months the things that made him smile, the way he liked to be held, or the milestones he was beginning to reach.

What survives publicly instead is largely the record of the violence that ended his life. But Antonio was a baby before he was a homicide case. His name was Antonio Angel, and five months was still a life worth remembering.

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Antonio's Story

November 18, 2011, Antonio was in the care of his father, Anthony Michael Angel.

Anthony later told investigators that Antonio had injured his head while the two were riding a Pueblo city bus. Police reviewed video from inside the bus and confirmed that Antonio did bump his head against a metal bar. But the video also showed something important: Antonio remained active and appeared normal after that incident. Investigators and physicians concluded that the minor bump captured on the bus video could not explain the catastrophic brain injury that ultimately killed him. Later that day, Anthony said Antonio began choking. A neighbor told police that Anthony came to him asking for a ride to the hospital because Antonio was not breathing. Antonio was first taken to Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo. Doctors reportedly did not initially see an obvious external injury that could account for his condition, but Antonio was critically ill and suffering from a severe brain injury. He was transferred to Children's Hospital in Denver. The autopsy revealed the severity of what had happened. Antonio had suffered severe blunt-force trauma to his head and an acute brain injury. Police said the fatal damage was located toward the right front/right temporal area of his head. According to Pueblo police, an injury of that severity would have produced symptoms very quickly within minutes rather than hours. That timing was critical. Investigators concluded that Antonio's fatal injury occurred after the bus ride, while he was in his father's care, rather than from the minor bump visible on the bus video. Antonio remained hospitalized in critical condition. On November 21, 2011, three days after he was brought to the hospital, Antonio was declared brain dead and taken off life support. His mother later described his cause of death from the autopsy as blunt-force trauma to the head with acute brain injury.

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The Warning Signs

Before Antonio was born, child protection authorities had already been involved with his family. According to the information preserved on Antonio's original Abuse Angels page, the Otero County Department of Social Services received a report in February 2010 alleging concerns involving Antonio's mother, Brandi Strawn, and her older daughter. Strawn disputed those allegations and said Anthony Angel had made false accusations during a custody dispute. Caseworkers investigated but were unable to substantiate those particular allegations. There were, however, documented concerns about domestic violence between Strawn and Angel, and child-protection services were already working with the family. According to the information preserved on your original page, those interventions were unsuccessful, Strawn's older daughter was ultimately placed in foster care, and Strawn's parental rights to that child were terminated. Antonio was born less than two months later. Antonio entered a family that child protection authorities already knew. There had been prior allegations. There had been domestic-violence concerns. Services had been provided. Another child had already been removed from the home. Five months after Antonio was born, he was dead.

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Justice for Antonio

Anthony Michael Angel was arrested in connection with his son's death.

He was initially accused of first degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. Pueblo's official homicide case record identifies Anthony Michael Angel as the defendant, Antonio Angel as the infant victim, and the case as 11CR1752-D.  For approximately two years, Anthony maintained his innocence. Then, as the case approached trial, he entered a plea. According to Antonio's mother, Anthony pleaded guilty to second degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. He faced a sentencing range of 16 to 25 years. The judge imposed the maximum years in prison.

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Person convicted: Anthony Michael Angel

Relationship to Antonio: Father

Convictions: Second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death

Sentence: 25 years imprisonment

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But Antonio's story did not end with that sentence. By August 2021, Anthony was reportedly living in a halfway house and approaching possible parole consideration. Antonio's mother, Brandi Strawn, publicly organized an effort opposing his release, writing that she would continue fighting for justice for her son's life, death, and memory. 

 

Remembering Antonio 

Antonio lived for five months. Most of what the public can now find about him describes a bus video, a brain injury, an autopsy, an arrest and a murder case. But Antonio was more than the evidence used to determine how he died. He was a baby. He should have had years ahead of him in which people learned what made him laugh, what kind of little boy he would become, and eventually what kind of person he wanted to be.  Instead, the adults who loved Antonio were left with five months of memories. His mother continued speaking his name a decade after his death and fighting to keep his story from being forgotten. That tells us something about Antonio that no autopsy report ever could: He was loved, and he was still being mourned years later.  His name was Antonio Angel. Abuse Angels remembers Antonio, tells the truth about the violence that ended his life, and honors the baby boy behind the investigation and court case.

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http://childfatalities.denverpost.com/#id=1&name=AngelAntonio