Man convicted of felony child abuse, claims girlfriend’s baby was burned by a malevolent spirit

Marcellous Davone Galaviz was convicted of child abuse with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily harm in Carson City on Thursday following a three day trial. The man claimed that he awoke from a nap to a spirit holding him down and burning him, and later he realized the spirit had also burned his girlfriend’s baby who was under his care.

The following account of the crime and trial was sent to Carson Now by Garrit S. Pruyt, Deputy District Attorney of the Carson City District Attorney's Office

Warning: the details of this case as follows are disturbing in nature.

On July 17, 2018, a Carson City Sheriff's Office deputy was dispatched to Carson Tahoe Hospital, just before 1 a.m., for a possible child abuse report. Upon arrival, the deputy learned that a four-month-old baby boy was receiving treatment for burns to his right arm, neck, and genital area.

The child was brought to the hospital by his mother and her new boyfriend, Galaviz. The deputy spoke with the baby’s mother, who reported that the baby, had been with a babysitter all day. The mother stated she noticed burns when she went to change baby’s diaper after picking him up.

The deputy proceeded to speak with baby’s maternal aunt, who the mother, the baby and Galaviz resided with. She stated that the baby was with Galaviz for the latter part of the day and not a babysitter. The deputy returned to speak with the baby’s mother who said she must have been confused about what times the baby was with Galaviz. The deputy spoke with Galaviz, who stated the maternal aunt was wrong in her account, but later stated he was confused.

An emergency room doctor evaluated the baby and determined that the burns, located on the arm, neck, and genital area, were second degree partial thickness thermal type burns. He ultimately determined that baby should be transported to Shriner’s Burn Unit at UC Davis.

Following the baby’s departure to UC Davis, Detective Sal Acosta, who is now a Sergeant with the Carson City Sheriff's Office, was assigned to the case. The detective started by following up on the information provided regarding the babysitter and babysitting service. He was soon able to determine that the babysitting story originally provided by the mother and Galaviz was false. Acosta canvassed the neighborhood and spoke with neighbor who reported that the she saw the baby with Galaviz on July 16, and that the baby was crying. The detective proceeded to follow up with baby’s maternal aunt, who also confirmed that baby was with Galaviz.

In a follow up interview with baby’s mother, she acknowledged that Galaviz told her that he woke up to a spirit holding him down. Galaviz further stated that the spirit had burned him and the baby. The mother admitted that the baby was in Galaviz’s care for the entire day while she was at work. She also acknowledged lying at the hospital and lying when she initially spoke with deputies.

Detective Acosta proceeded to interview Galaviz, who acknowledged that he was taking care of baby on July 16, when the burns occurred. Galaviz recounted that he video chatted with the baby’s mother, his girlfriend, on the afternoon of July 16, before putting the baby down for a nap. Following their conversation he smoked a little marijuana and took a nap himself. Galaviz indicated that he was awoken by a burn on the back of his arm. He reported that baby woke up without any fuss, but that he also noticed a burn on the baby’s arm. Galaviz proceeded to change the baby’s diaper after the nap and then went to Walmart. Galaviz denied seeing any burns to the baby's genital area when he changed the diaper. Galaviz acknowledged that there was nothing near the baby as he slept that could have caused the burns. Galaviz continued to deny burning himself or the baby and maintained that it was a spirit.

The detective later visited the residence where the burning took place and requested to look around to see if there was anything that could have burned the baby. The detective did not locate anything near or around the area where the baby napped that could have caused have caused the burns. He was also unable to locate any knives or other objects with tips that looked to have been recently heated.

A few days later, the baby’s mother contacted deputies stating she may have found the knife that was used to burn her baby. The mother reported that when she was leaving UC Davis Hospital, Galaviz asked her if she grabbed everything out of baby’s diaper bag, and specifically inquired about a pocket knife. She remarked that at the time, she did not think anything of it. However, when she went through the bag, she found the knife Galaviz inquired about. When she opened the knife, she found that the tip was burnt and the shape matched the baby’s many burns. The knife was collected and booked into evidence. The baby’s maternal aunt reported that the knife had disappeared from her residence just the day prior to the incident. The aunt further reported that the knife did not previously have any burn or melt marks.

Following the investigation the Carson City District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint on the charge of Child Abuse With a Deadly Weapon Causing Substantial Bodily Harm and a warrant was issued.

Trial began on April 8, and concluded on April 11.

The State presented evidence and the testimony of the baby’s mother, the baby’s father, the baby’s maternal aunt, the responding deputy, assigned detective and ER Doctor. The Defense presented testimony from Galaviz and additional testimony from multiple close friends and family members of the defendant.

Following the presentation of the case the jury returned a guilty verdict on the charged crime, Child Abuse With a Deadly Weapon Causing Substantial Bodily Harm.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 4, at 9 a.m.

The baby currently resides with his father and is in good health.