A Buffalo couple will be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison following their guilty plea in the death of their 2-month-old infant daughter, who investigators say died of malnutrition and dehydration.
Luis Gonzalez, Jr., 26, and Kitrina Udrea, 23, both of Buffalo, pleaded guilty Monday before Erie County Court Judge James F. Bargnesi to one count of second-degree manslaughter (Class C felony). Gonzalez and Udrea both entered a guilty plea to the highest sustainable charge and sole count of the indictment.
On July 7, 2023, police and paramedics responded to an apartment on the 2000 block of William Street in the Town of Cheektowaga after receiving a 911 call for an unresponsive child. The victim, 2 ½-month-old Londyn Gonzalez, was transported by ambulance to the former Oishei Children’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An investigation determined that the defendants, while acting in concert with one another, recklessly caused the death of their infant daughter.
On April 20, 2023, Londyn was born at a healthy weight of 6 pounds, 8 ounces. During two pediatric appointments in late April and early May 2023, a medical provider expressed concern about the baby’s declining weight and instructed Gonzalez and Udrea to increase the amount of formula as well as the frequency of her feeds. After they failed to return for a third appointment on May 8, 2023, Gonzalez and Udrea never contacted the pediatrician’s office again and did not take their child to another pediatrician.
At the time of her death, Londyn weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces. The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death as homicide by neglect caused by malnutrition and dehydration.
Gonzalez and Udrea are scheduled to be sentenced on July 29. While the charge carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison, Judge Bargnesi committed to a maximum determinate sentence of 1 to 3 years of incarceration as a condition of the plea. Gonzalez and Udrea were released under supervision while awaiting sentence.
Keane commended Detective Kevin Schmidt, Lieutenant Justin Haag, Detective Mark Fatta, and Detective James Genson of the Cheektowaga Police Department and members of the Doyle Fire Company for their work in this investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Chief Rebecca L. Schnirel of the Felony Trials Bureau.