4-Year-Old Dies; Mother Charged With Kicking, Beating Girl

GAITHERSBURG, MD — A 4-year-old Gaithersburg girl has died six days after her mom allegedly kicked her and left her alone in a bathtub, where she was found face down in water. Nohely Alexandra Martinez Hernandez died Feb. 1, according to Montgomery County Police. A cause of death has not been released.

Nohely's mother is charged with beating and kicking the girl and then waiting for an hour to call 911 after she found the youngster face down in a bathtub. Police on Jan. 28 arrested and charged Iris Hernandez Rivas, 20, of the 400 block of Sunny Brook Terrace, with child abuse.

Hernandez Rivas called 911 on Jan. 26 to ask for medical help for her unresponsive four-year-old daughter. The mother initially told police officers that her daughter went into the bathroom and started the shower. About 15 to 20 minutes later, Hernandez Rivas heard a noise from the bathroom and went to check on her child. When Hernandez Rivas entered the bathroom, she saw Nohely face down in the bathtub. Hernandez Rivas said she waited about one hour before calling 9-1-1.

Fire and Rescue personnel took the youngster to Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville in serious condition.

Major Crimes detectives learned from medical staff at the hospital that the girl had multiple bruises on her body and was suffering from head trauma that may have been from the result of physical abuse. Nohely was flown to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where she died on Feb. 1; police announced the girl's death Friday afternoon.

When investigators spoke with Hernandez Rivas on Jan. 27, she said that she had kicked the little girl in the abdomen after becoming angry that Nohely had not brushed her teeth. The force of the kick knocked the child backward and she struck her head on the living room wall. Hernandez Rivas told police that her daughter fell to the ground and appeared lethargic.

The daughter then went to the bathroom and turned on the shower, Hernandez Rivas said, and she later found her face down in the bath tub. Bruises on multiple areas of her daughter’s body were caused by Hernandez Rivas striking her daughter with a belt several days earlier, she told police.

Results of an autopsy performed by the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine Nohely's cause of death are pending.

Hernandez Rivas was arrested on Jan. 28 and charged with one count of first-degree child abuse and one count of first-degree assault. She is currently being held without bond.
»Photo of Iris Hernandez Rivas, courtesy of Montgomery County Police