Aunt accused of fatally shaking infant niece

A Deer Park woman shook her infant niece so hard while caring for the baby in March that the child's brain shifted inside her head, a Suffolk prosecutor said Friday in a Riverhead courtroom.

The 11-month-old girl, Diana Osario, was declared brain-dead and died three days later, Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro said.

The child's aunt, Paola Baez, 22, was arraigned Friday on a grand jury indictment charging her with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter. Baez pleaded not guilty through her attorney, Joel Salinger of Mineola. Salinger said Baez "vehemently defends her innocence."

Baez, who is unemployed, was ordered held by Judge Gerard Asher on $500,000 bond or $300,000 cash bail.

Her husband, Jose Baez, and other family members declined to comment outside court.

Tomaro said Baez was baby-sitting Diana at her home on March 17 while her sister was at work. The sister and the child also lived in the Deer Park home. About 9 a.m. that day, Baez shook the child "with such extreme force that she caused the baby's brain to shift," Tomaro said.

Police said in March that Baez shook the baby to stop her from crying. Baez and her husband took Diana to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where she told hospital workers the child fell off a swing, Tomaro said. The hospital called police. Baez later admitted to police she had shaken the baby, Tomaro said.

Baez's next court date is May 20.