Murder Suspect Found Hanging

A Cypress man accused of beating his 2-year-old niece to death was in critical condition after he was found hanging in his jail cell, authorities said Tuesday.

Michael Balderas, 29, who was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, tried to hang himself early Sunday by tying a bedsheet to a light fixture in his cell at Orange County Jail, said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

Balderas appeared to be fine when a deputy checked on him during the 4:40 a.m. wake-up call, Amormino said. He said that Balderas was found hanging 10 minutes later, during a routine inmate count when prisoners stand beside their cell doors.

Deputies administered CPR and took him to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he was in critical condition.

Balderas was arrested March 30 in the beating death of his niece, Jo-Jade. He had been watching her since October at the request of the child’s mother, Balderas’ sister, who, along with Jo-Jade’s father, is incarcerated in Texas, officials said.

Balderas’ girlfriend, who lived with him in a Cypress townhouse, called 911 en route to La Palma Intercommunity Hospital on March 30, saying the girl was not breathing. Jo-Jade was pronounced dead by the time police arrived at the hospital.

An autopsy showed she had been severely beaten below the waist.

Balderas, who was being held without bail, was charged with one count of murder and two counts of child abuse. He was being held in protective custody because of the nature of the crime.