13-month-old baby dead in Santa Rosa home, man held for murder

A 13-month-old boy was declared dead Saturday afternoon at a home in Santa Rosa and a 29-year-old man found unconscious next to the boy was arrested on suspicion of murder, Santa Rosa police said.

Patrick Oneill, who was hospitalized with what police initially said were life-threatening injuries, will be booked into jail once he is cleared from the hospital, police said in a statement Saturday night.

Officers found Oneill and the baby lying next to one another on the floor of the back bedroom of the house on Darek Drive, a short street that runs south off West Third Street west of Stony Point Road, Lt. Dan Marincik said earlier Saturday.

There were no signs of violence in the house, but officers found “signs of recent drug use next to where the child was discovered,” the statement said.

The cause of the boy’s death has not been determined, but investigators “believe that Oneill’s actions” are to blame, it said.

Police responded about 1 p.m. to a report from a woman who went to the home to check on some of the residents and found the man and child unresponsive, Marincik said earlier.

The child was not breathing and medics began life-saving efforts that proved unsuccessful, he said.

The woman and the boy were related, he said.

Officers found “items consistent with narcotic use” inside the home, and Marincik declined to elaborate, saying that evidence was still being collected.

The man later identified as Oneill was being treated at the hospital for internal injuries, he said.

Detectives from the Violent Crimes Investigation Team are handling the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call 707-543-3590.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5457.