Insets: Fernando Vega and Angelina Calderon (Harris County Jail). Background: Home in Houston, Texas, where Vega and Calderon”s month-old twins died (KHOU/YouTube).
A Texas father has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term following the tragic deaths of his one-month-old twins, whom he fatally shook and beat in a desperate reaction to their persistent cries and fussiness throughout the night. Fernando Vega, aged 23, admitted guilt to the charge of injury to a child resulting in serious bodily injury, a plea that has resulted in a 40-year prison sentence. His partner, Angelina Calderon, who is also 23, faces similar charges, with her court appearance scheduled for March 5.
The heartbreaking incident unfolded on the morning of October 4, 2023, in Houston. According to a probable cause affidavit, Vega found the twins, Massail and Mirena Vega, unresponsive at around 11 a.m. Distressed, he immediately called Calderon, expressing his concern that the babies were neither waking up nor showing any signs of activity.
Calderon promptly contacted emergency services, dialing 911 for help. Earlier reports from Law&Crime revealed that Calderon informed detectives of her last interaction with the infants just after midnight, before she went to bed. Vega assumed responsibility for the twins overnight, describing them as “fussy” and detailing how he put them to sleep around 6 a.m.
Calderon mentioned that when she awoke at approximately 8 a.m., the babies were still asleep. Vega later drove her to work around 10:30 a.m., during which time the twins were under the care of their grandmother, as outlined in the affidavit.
Calderon then called 911.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Calderon allegedly told detectives she last interacted with the babies shortly after midnight when she went to bed. Vega said he cared for the twins during the night, calling them “fussy.” He put them to bed around 6 a.m., according to officers. Calderon said they were still sleeping when she woke up around 8 a.m. and Vega dropped her off at work around 10:30 a.m. The twins’ grandmother watched the babies during that time, according to the document.
Initially, police found no serious traumatic injuries on the infants.
But an autopsy told a disturbing tale. Doctors found the infants were extremely malnourished and suffered traumatic injuries on three separate occasions, according to the affidavit. Calderon told cops that despite the babies being born prematurely, she never took them to any checkup appointments with doctors, detectives wrote. The twins were also dehydrated.
One infant had contusions on the forehead, torso, feet, and arms, along with fractures of the left femur and multiple ribs, the affidavit said. The other infant also had bruises to the forehead and arm, along with head, clavicle, and bilateral rib fractures, the autopsy determined. Those injuries were in various stages of healing, which suggested they happened during three separate incidents, authorities said.
The medical examiner determined both twins died from multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death was homicide. Vega and Calderon intentionally inflicted the injuries and should have sought medical care, detectives wrote.
“This is a very, very tragic, heartbreaking scene,” Houston police Assistant Chief Patricia Cantu told reporters. “Obviously the family is devastated.”
