Man gets 22 years in infant death child abuse case

Victor Gonzales will spend 22 years in prison after pleading no contest to reckless child abuse resulting in death in the 2025 death of a 4-month-old infant in the North Valley. Judge Brett Loveless accepted the plea on Thursday, July 9, 2026, and sentenced Gonzales to 22 years in prison.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said Gonzales received four additional years because he is a convicted felon. The child died in June 2025 after he was exposed to methamphetamine and stopped breathing while Gonzales and the baby’s mother, Gabriella Muniz, were asleep in the same bed after using narcotics.

Court records show the infant was born on January 28, 2025, with fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, a sign of prenatal drug exposure. After hospital discharge, the child was allowed to return home under a Children, Youth & Families Department safety plan.

The home contained powdered fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and two guns, including one stolen firearm.

Muniz still faces charges including reckless child abuse resulting in death, trafficking a controlled substance and receiving a stolen firearm. Her pretrial conference and plea hearing were set for July 24, 2026, with trial scheduled for August 17, 2026.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the child should never have been left with parents who admitted to active drug use. Maralyn Beck of the New Mexico Child First Network said the infant should never have been sent home with the family, and that the safety plan was not enough to protect him.