The Region - News from Sept. 30, 1986

A Los Angeles woman and her 18-year-old stepson were arrested on suspicion of murder after her 2-year-old son died of injuries evidently suffered on a forest outing. Michael Ruiz was unconscious when a sheriff’s helicopter airlifted him from West Fork Campground in Angeles National Forest to Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, where he subsequently died. The child’s mother, Nancy Ruiz, 27, and her stepson, James Ruiz, were initially held on suspicion of child endangerment, but were rebooked on suspicion of murder after an autopsy disclosed that the child, who died of drowning, also showed signs of prior physical abuse. Deputies said Nancy and James Ruiz took Michael and two other children from the home of their father, Edgar Ruiz, early this month, and had been living with them at the campground. The other two children were released to their father’s custody.