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Deputies say the death was a homicide and say the parents are not ruled out as suspects.
By BRADY DENNIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 24, 2001
ZEPHYRHILLS -- Peaceful Lane at first glance appears much like its name sounds: calm, quiet and undisturbed.
But there has been little peace on this southeastern Zephyrhills street for a year now, at least at 4106 Peaceful Lane.
The modest, one-story home is where 1-month-old Puirmesh Mangroo was found dead early on Nov. 22 last year in the crib he shared with his twin sister, Mariah.
Pasco sheriff's deputies ruled the death "most definitely" a homicide, saying that Puirmesh -- known to his family as Bobby -- had died from head trauma.
A year later, investigators have made no arrests.
Bobby's parents, Keshwar Mangroo and Maria Morales, have said all along that they had nothing to do with the boy's death.
But investigators have questioned their account of the incident and said that they have been less than cooperative.
"They know more than they are telling us," said sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers. "We do not think they are being totally truthful. They have not been cleared (as suspects)."
Since the tragedy, state officials also have removed the family's three remaining children from the house and have forbidden Morales to see them.
Keshwar Mangroo said he woke about 4 a.m. that Wednesday to the crying of his infant daughter, who lay in a nearby crib with her twin brother by her side.
Mangroo said he went to the kitchen to warm a bottle when he heard Morales, his longtime girlfriend, scream:
"My baby's dead!"
Mangroo said he ran to the bedroom and found Morales holding the infant. The boy wasn't breathing. His hands were the color of chalk. He was black and blue all over his face, "like he was beaten up real bad," Mangroo said later.
Mangroo, 32, said deputies tried to get him to say that Morales, 31, had hurt the infant. But he defended her.
"I know she didn't hurt her kids," Mangroo said in an interview with the St. Petersburg Times last Thanksgiving Day. "She takes such good care."
It's the same sentiment that Morales' mother, Marie Rodriquez, expressed in an interview earlier this week.
"She is a good mother," Rodriguez said. "Everybody has said that. She cries (about this) everyday."
Rodriquez said that state officials removed Mariah, Bobby's twin, as well Morales' three other children -- 13, 7 and 4.
She said two of the children are staying with Mangroo's family, and the other two are staying with their biological father.
Rodriquez said she doesn't understand why authorities won't give the children back, especially as no charges have been filed.
"We are depressed," she said. "We all go through it. We want our family back. It will never be the same until we get those kids back."
Mangroo and Morales have had troubles in the past.
Records show that Pasco deputies have twice been called to 4106 Peaceful Lane for domestic disputes. The two cases were reported in May and June 1998.
In the later incident, Morales' young son called deputies and said his mother and Mangroo were fighting, reports state. No one was arrested in the incident.
An earlier domestic case was reported in Hillsborough County, where the couple lived before moving to Zephyrhills. Mangroo was charged with aggravated battery. The charge was later dropped.
Mangroo told the Times last year that the couple's past squabbles have nothing to do with how they treat their children.
"We know what kind of parents we are and how we take care of our kids," Mangroo said.
Investigators aren't convinced, at least when it comes to the suspicious details of Bobby's death.
Mangroo and Morales have suggested that someone possibly broke in during the night and killed the baby. But investigators don't buy that explanation, especially because the crib was right beside the bed that Mangroo and Morales shared.
"That scenario is not supported in any way by our evidence or our investigation," Powers said. "That theory is not going to fly. Absolutely not."
Morales' three other children also were in the house that night, as well as two relatives and their children, Mangroo said.
But whatever any of them might know, they aren't saying.
"One of the problems is that no one who was there at the time is being real helpful," Powers said.
"Among other things, we are hoping that those who have information have a change of heart or a change of conscience."
Mangroo and Morales did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this story.
The Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner's office has refused to release Bobby's autopsy results because the case remains under investigation.
So for now, the case remains open. Investigators keep combing for clues. And Peaceful Lane remains anything but peaceful.
"There's nothing than an investigator hates more than unanswered questions," Powers said. "And in this case, there are quite a few."
-- Brady Dennis covers police news and news about Zephyrhills. He can be reached at (352) 521-5757, ext. 23, or toll-free at (800) 333-7505, ext. 6108, then 23.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Detective Jim Medley at the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, (800) 854-2862, ext. 5111.