From Deseret News archives:
Baby progresses; custody undecided
Girl born in emergency C-section after mom was slain in S.L. motel
On Thursday, a social worker from LDS Hospital told 3rd District Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez that the baby has "made a considerable amount of progress" since her delivery by emergency C-section on Aug. 18. The child is no longer totally dependent on a ventilator, the woman said, although doctors are still assessing the extent, if any, of brain damage she has suffered.
The baby's father, Carlos Manuel Najera Godoy, visits his daughter daily and would like to have the child in his Salt Lake home when she is released from the hospital, attorney Sarah Giacovelli said.
Godoy, 24, came forward shortly after 30-year-old Darla Marie Woundedhead was shot in the abdomen and chest while standing in the doorway of a room at the Dream Inn motel, 1865 W. North Temple. A paternity test has confirmed him as baby Darla's father.
Godoy arrived at court Thursday with photographs of him and his daughter together, taken in the baby's hospital room.
The baby's older sister, Woundedhead's 14-year-old daughter, also visits the hospital every other day, usually bringing clothing and toys. Great-aunt Brenda Bowman told Valdez on Thursday that the teen would like to continue a relationship with her younger sister, regardless of where the child is ultimately placed.
That decision will be made following a Nov. 22 hearing, when the state Division of Child and Family Services will submit a transition plan for the child. DCFS now has temporary custody of the baby, which allows the agency to oversee her medical situation.
In court, Bowman said she was pleased Godoy has stepped forward to take responsibility for baby Darla. The two families met for the first time outside Valdez's courtroom while waiting for the hearing to begin.
"We just want the baby to have a good home and be taken care of good," Bowman said.
Woundedhead was a member of the Oglala-Sioux tribe of South Dakota, which has filed a motion to intervene in the matter. A tribal attorney participated in Thursday's proceedings by speaker phone but said little during the brief hearing.
Police have arrested five people, three men and two women, in connection with Woundedhead's death.
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com
