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Police Say After A Mom Rejected A Man At A Party, He Shot Her Baby In The Head

23-year-old Marcos Antonio Echartea was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted murder.

A man is accused of shooting a 10-month-old baby in the head after her mother rejected him at a party.

According to Fresno, California, police, 23-year-old Marcos Antonio Echartea continually harassed Deziree Menagh, 18, at a party on Saturday night (June 22). Echartea allegedly met Menagh a week prior to the party, and when he ran into her on Saturday night, tried to grab her hand, Buzzfeed News reports.

Menagh reportedly arrived at the party hours earlier with her daughter, Fayth Percy. After numerous advances, including a final one during which Echartea tried to pull Menagh onto his lap, the young woman decided to leave the party.

"It was very apparent that he wanted a relationship with her," Jerry Dyer, Fresno’s Police Chief, said at a news conference the following day.

Authorities say after leaving the party with her daughter, Menagh got into a male friend’s vehicle and drove away. When coming up to a U-turn about a block away, Dyer says Echartea walked rapidly toward the car and fired three rounds into the driver’s side window, striking the 3-year-old in the head as Menagh held her in her arms.

"We have every reason to believe that Marcus knew that baby Fayth was in that vehicle when he fired three rounds into that vehicle," Dyer said.

Fayth remains in critical condition after doctors removed bullet fragments from her head Sunday. Dyer believes had the window in the vehicle been down, Fayth would not have made it to the hospital.

Detectives arrested Echartea back at the party. He was charged with three counts of attempted murder.

Echartea is reportedly also a suspect in another shooting “over a female.” Dyer claims on May 27, he went to the home of his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend and fired numerous rounds inside, almost striking another child.

Echartea faces multiple felony counts related to that shooting, including assault with a deadly weapon. "It's very apparent that Marcos Echartea has no regard for human life, even a baby," Dyer said.

Baby Fayth Percy is in critical but stable condition at the moment. Deziree Menagh nor her male friend were injured physically during the alleged attack.

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