Dulce Gomez was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to murder in the 2024 smothering death of Fabian Arjon, an 8-month-old boy in her care. Gomez admitted killing the infant with a pillow. She had originally faced a capital-murder charge that carried the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Gomez entered her plea in Tarrant County's 372nd District Court, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The newspaper, citing law enforcement authorities, reported that Gomez was babysitting Fabian when she killed him in November 2024. He died in the emergency room at Cook Children's Medical Center on Nov. 4, 2024.
The Star-Telegram reported that a Tarrant County medical examiner's pathologist ruled Fabian's death a homicide caused by suffocation. The newspaper also reported that Gomez was not booked into the Fort Worth city jail until 22 days after the infant died. She was identified as 57 at that time and 59 at the time of her guilty plea.
The Plea and Sentence
Gomez had been indicted on capital murder of a person under 10, a charge that could have resulted in life in prison without the possibility of parole if she had been convicted at trial, the Star-Telegram reported. She instead pleaded guilty to the lesser-included offense of murder and received a 30-year sentence. Under the sentence, she will become eligible for parole after serving 15 years.
How This Sentence Compares With Other Caregiver Cases
The reported terms in Gomez's case were 30 years, with parole eligibility after 15 years; the reporting here does not provide a full account of Texas statutory punishment ranges. In a separate Georgia case, the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office reported that Dunwoody daycare owner Amanda Hickey was sentenced on Oct. 13, 2023, to 35 years, with 30 years in confinement, in connection with the Feb. 3, 2021, death of a four-month-old in her care. That case also involved allegations of abuse related to other children in her care.
A distinct Texas case had a different procedural posture: KXAN reported that Carmen Mejia had an exoneration hearing in Travis County in March 2026 concerning a conviction tied to the 2003 scalding death of an infant in her care. That was an exoneration hearing, not a guilty plea in a smothering death.
Assistant District Attorney Alec Trono prosecuted the case, according to the Star-Telegram. Court-appointed attorneys Gary Smart and Taylor Ferguson represented Gomez.
Immigration Consequences
Gomez, who is not a United States citizen, told the court she understood her guilty plea could lead to deportation, the Star-Telegram reported. Julie Lugo is the judge of the 372nd District Court.
After her initial arrest in late November 2024, Gomez was held in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at $300,000, according to the Star-Telegram's earlier coverage. Her guilty plea and sentence ended the case without a trial.
