A Prince George’s County man was ordered Wednesday to remain in the Montgomery County jail after he was charged earlier this month with second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse in connection with the September 23 death of a 7-month-old Silver Spring infant, according to court proceedings.
During a bond review hearing in the Maryland District Court in Rockville, Judge Karen Ferretti ordered Terron Christopher Matasaran, 37, of Bladensburg to be held without bond, siding with the position of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office that he is a danger and a flight risk. Before her decision, Ferretti noted that Matasaran had no prior convictions.
Charles Waechter, Matasaran’s attorney, asked the judge to release Matasaran, place him under electronic monitoring and prohibit him from making contact with the infant’s mother. According to Waechter, Matasaran lives in an apartment attached to the auto services shop where he works and the monitoring would allow him to continue to work and meet with Waechter. He told Ferretti that Matasaran does general maintenance work at the auto shop.
Waechter argued the case revolved around the issue of who had custody of the infant when he was injured. Waechter noted that another person had witnessed some injuries before Matasaran began babysitting the infant on the day he died.
Four of Matasaran’s family members were present in the courtroom but did not speak during the hearing and declined to comment to Bethesda Today.
“At this juncture we need to … [look at] all of the police reports, the autopsy report, any medical data. We’re just waiting to receive that,” Waechter said. “It takes time for the [state] to develop that, then to provide that to me.”
County homicide detectives took Matasaran into custody March 4 after obtaining a warrant for his arrest the day before, police said in a March 5 press release. He was arrested by the Montgomery County Police Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Capital Regional Fugitive Task Force at his place of employment in Bladensburg.
Matasaran is scheduled to return to court March 28 for a preliminary hearing, according to digital court records. At the hearing, Waechter said a judge will determine whether there is probable cause to charge Matasaran with the two felonies.
The incident
According to the police press release, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews and police officers responded at 11:05 a.m. Sept. 23 to the 11600 block of Stewart Lane in Silver Spring for the report of an “unresponsive baby boy.”
The infant’s mother called 911 and reported hearing “rattling sounds” from the baby, charging documents state. The mother provided cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the child until paramedics arrived and took over life-saving efforts. Ultimately the efforts were unsuccessful, and paramedics pronounced the infant dead at 11:48 a.m.
According to police, Matasaran was babysitting the infant on the day of his death. He reported to police that at one point in the morning, he left the baby on a bed to get something to eat in the kitchen and heard the baby fall onto the ground, charging documents state.
Matasaran reported to paramedics that the infant was “alert and responsive” when he returned to the bedroom, but the child’s condition declined and he decided to call the boy’s mother, according to charging documents. The mother immediately left work, returned home and then called 911 to request paramedics.
An autopsy revealed the child had suffered head injuries and rib fractures and the manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to police.
During a search of the home, detectives noted the surface of the bed that the infant allegedly fell from was about 19 inches above a carpeted floor.
The autopsy of the infant noted the victim suffered from a brain bleed, retinal bleeding, bleeding below the base of his skull and five rib fractures, according to charging documents. The doctor who performed the autopsy noted that a “short fall from a bed onto a carpeted surface would not cause this level of head injuries,” the documents state.
Days after the death, detectives interviewed Matasaran about the incident, according to charging documents. Matasaran told police that while he is not the father of the child, he was in a relationship with the infant’s mother and often babysat when needed. During the interview, he told police he was a “good person” and the infant’s mother “trusted him enough to leave the victim in his care and custody,” charging documents state.
Matasaran also provided more details about what happened on the day of the child’s death. He shared that the infant had been “whining” continuously throughout the morning and that after the child fell from the bed, he “shook his body for a reaction” and splashed water on the baby’s face to get a response but was unsuccessful, according to charging documents.
During the time between when Matasaran called the infant’s mother and when she arrived and called 911, Matasaran told officers he “placed the victim on the living room floor to monitor his breathing while on the phone with [the mother],” charging documents state. It took approximately 32 minutes for a 911 call to be made after Matasaran was aware of the infant’s condition.
When county detectives interviewed the infant’s mother, she told them that when Matasaran called her, he sounded “worried” and his voice was “shaky,” charging documents state. The mother said Matasaran told her the infant was whining, “sleeping kind of” and had a weak pulse.
The mother told detectives that when she arrived at the residence, the infant looked “limp with a grayish color,” and she called 911 and began CPR, according to charging documents. She also noted the infant did not have any prior medical issues.
County detectives also interviewed the mother’s cousin, who works with her, according to charging documents. The cousin said the mother had told her the baby had fallen from the bed and she overheard a phone call between the mother and Matasaran in which she allegedly heard Matasaran mention that he did not want to go to jail.
The cousin also showed a detective 10 photographs that she allegedly took of bruising on the infant’s face, back and belly, according to charging documents. The photos were taken four days before the infant’s death and detectives noted that Matasaran babysat the child the day before.
About a week after interviewing Matasaran, the mother and the cousin, detectives interviewed the infant’s grandmother at county police department headquarters in Gaithersburg, according to charging documents. The grandmother told detectives she cared for the baby on Sept. 18 until about 3 p.m. and recalled the child was “excessively and unusually irritable that day.” She later handed off care of the child to Matasaran but did not notice any bruising on the child as depicted in the photos the cousin had taken.
