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Highlands Today

BREAKING NEWS: Man Indicted by Grand Jury for Baby's Murder

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By Dan  Fearson | Highlands Today

Published: January 8, 2008

SEBRING — Edgar Michael Otero, 29, of Sebring was indicted by a Highlands County grand jury on Tuesday afternoon on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

Otero, who has been in jail since Dec. 4, was indicted in connection to the November murder of baby, Alexa Hall, a 3-month-old girl.

According to a Highlands County Sheriff's Office arrest report, the baby was brought by the child's mother, Brandy Hall, 21, to a Sebring home where Otero was staying.

A witness, who is only referred to as "other" in the report, told investigators that at some point the baby was jerking and went limp.

Brandy Hall and Otero reportedly brought the child in to the emergency room for an unknown sickness. Hospital officials decided the baby needed to be airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

"The baby was diagnosed by St. Joseph's doctors as having shaken baby syndrome," said Sheriff's Lt. John Chess in November after Otero was arrested on charges of aggravated child cruelty.

"The baby was brain dead," Chess said. "The boyfriend (Otero) shook the baby and didn't realize he had shaken her that hard."

Following Alexa's death, family members spoke to Highlands Today.

"She was perfect," said Sandy Carro, the child's grandmother. "She was tiny. She was a little bitty thing. Her nickname was Peanut."

"Her new thing was she liked keys," Hall said. "She used to follow them around (with her eyes)."
Autopsy results showed that the child died as the result of shaken baby syndrome.

Reporter Joe Seelig contributed to this article.

More information will be added to this story as news becomes available.

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