Marlon Rabanales-Pretzantzin, of Inwood, charged with killing baby

Nassau police charged an Inwood man Thursday with second-degree murder in the beating death of his 2-month-old daughter.

Marlon Rabanales-Pretzantzin, 20, was charged in the March 7 death of the girl, Liseyda Rabanales-Pretzantzin, police said. He was arrested Wednesday after he confessed to beating the child and throwing her to the ground, said Nassau County Police Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the homicide unit.

"When we interviewed the father, he admitted what had happened with the baby, how he abused it physically, how he felt the child wasn't his and how he did not respect or want that child," Fitzpatrick said.

"He hit the child several times, in the head and face," Fitzpatrick said. "The amount of times he's done this to the child is still unknown, but these injuries and this behavior by him caused these injuries to this child."

Nassau County prosecutors detailed the abuse in court Thursday during Rabanales-Pretzantzin's arraignment in Hempstead. Prosecutors said he slapped his daughter in the face, punched and shook her.

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded without bail. His court-assigned attorney, Mindy Plotkin, said she had just met her client and was reviewing the case.

"He's extremely young. He's 20 years old, but obviously today I feel very sorry for the loss of a child," Plotkin said.

Police responded to the Inwood apartment Friday just before 11 a.m. where the baby was in cardiac arrest, Fitzpatrick said. Paramedics performed CPR to stabilize the baby before she was taken to a hospital on the Queens-Long Island border, but she died there about 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Detectives notified Child Protective Services and the New York City medical examiner. Prosecutors said Rabanales-Pretzantzin changed his story several times, telling police she rolled off a bed, which was not consistent with her injuries.

The injuries included severe damage to her spine, sub-cranial bleeding, fractured ribs and older rib fractures, as well as many abrasions to her face, Fitzpatrick said.

The child's mother, who was not charged, removed her 1-year-old from the home Monday. He was being examined to determine any past abuse, Fitzpatrick said.

Police said Rabanales-Pretzantzin came to the country illegally in 2022 from Guatemala. Police placed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold on him at the Nassau County jail, Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, and will be referred for possible deportation once the case is resolved.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.