A teenager who caused a baby’s skull to fracture during a home invasion has received a suspended sentence of two years.
Nicole Siguenza was cradling her two-month-old daughter, Antonia, when two teenagers forcibly entered her residence on Bokhara Street in Larapinta, Alice Springs, on December 11, 2024.
The intruders, aged 16 and 17, concealed themselves behind a kitchen counter before the 17-year-old seized a metal fridge handle to use as a weapon.
Upon being discovered, he menaced the mother-of-five with the metal object, striking her and inadvertently injuring both Mrs. Siguenza and her infant daughter when the hit glanced off her.
Baby Antonia sustained a skull fracture and brain bleed, requiring her and her mother to be airlifted to Adelaide’s Women and Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
The teenager, who remains unnamed because he was a minor at the time of the crime, was sentenced on September 16 for his role in the incident.
The NT Department of Public Prosecutions confirmed on Friday it has decided not appeal the eldest teen’s sentence.
Initially the DPP had spent close to a month mulling over whether it would consider appealing the sentence but confirmed that option was now off the table.
Two-month-old baby Antonia had her skull fractured during a violent home invasion in December 2024
Antonia’s mother, Nicole Siguenza (pictured with her partner Marlon), was also injured in the attack in her Alice Springs home
The mother and daughter were flown to Adelaide’s Women and Children’s Hospital in a critical condition
The 17-year-old served 10 months behind bars before beginning his community corrections order.
Justice Sonia Brownhill deemed the teen eligible for the intensive community corrections order which is to be served at a rehabilitation facility in Alice Springs.
As part of this order the teen, now 18, will spend 12 hours a week working on a ‘project’, Justice Brownhill said, reports NT News.
The same judge sentenced the other teen, now 17, to two-years in prison in August.
This younger teen, who did not strike the mother or her baby, had an extensive criminal history, the court heard.
He had previously been convicted of absconding from a days bail while on remand for the home invasion.
The boy will be eligible for parole in September 2026.
Both teens had pleaded guilty and each was convicted of theft, unlawfully causing serious harm, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and aggravated assault.
Antonia has suffered seizures as a result of her attack and the teen who was responsible for it has since been handed a two-year suspended sentence
Justice Brownhill said the pair had came up with their plan to rob Ms Siguenzas after they had been drinking together and ran out of alcohol.
CCTV footage from inside the home at the time of the break-in which captured the entire attack was shown to the court in August.
In the footage both teens were seen harassing Ms Siguenzas as she pleaded for them to leave while her children cried.
As the elder teen was seen striking the mother and her baby the younger one carefully went from room to room finding items to steal.
In total they left with $2,100 worth of goods from the home including just under half a dozen Great Northern beers, the court previously heard.
The teenagers were located on Lyndavale Drive – a short distance from the Siguenza’s home – where one was arrested and the other fled in a car.
Police arrested the second teenager following a short vehicle pursuit.
The injured tot’s father, Marlon Siguenza, revealed his daughter was ‘doing a whole lot better’ while speaking to NT News in January.
Mr Siguenza said his daughter is doing better but still requires anti-seizure medication
Mr Siguenza, a corrections officer, previously revealed baby Antonia had been suffering seizures as a result of her extensive injuries.
‘The fracture itself that she received on the skull has gone in a couple of directions but the neurosurgeon is confident that over time she’ll make a great recovery because of her size and how young she is,’ he told ABC News.
Antonia is still taking anti-epilepsy medication.
Both teens expressed remorse for their role in the home invasion during sentencing.
The eldest also promised to change his life to show the Siguenza’s he is sorry, the court heard.
When his two-year-suspended sentence is completed the teen must leave Alice Springs and not return except in the case of an emergency, Justice Brownhill ordered.
