FRESNO - On Thursday, members of the Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on 23 month old Julius Lopez of Calwa. The manner of death was determined to be homicide and the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Wednesday night, homicide detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office arrested 24 year old Gage Hurtado. He has been booked into the Fresno County Jail on a felony charge of assault by means to likely to cause death to a child. His bail is set at $500,000.

Around 9:30 am on Wednesday, Fresno Police received a 911 call from a man (Gage Hurtado) saying a child was injured inside an apartment located on the 2400 block of S. Ninth Street in Calwa. A Fresno Police officer arrived and found the boy, Julius Lopez, to be non-responsive. The officer gave the boy CPR and allowed EMS to take over medical aid once they arrived. Around 10:15 am, the boy was pronounced deceased.

Officers detained a woman at the apartment, who is the mother of the child. They also detained Hurtado, who made the emergency call. He is the woman’s boyfriend and is not the father of the child. Detectives interviewed both of them. They later released the woman and arrested Hurtado.

The method for hurting the child and reason for doing so have not been determined. This remains an ongoing investigation. Detectives continue
to follow leads in order to develop information that will help build their case. On Friday, the case will be turned into the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to contact Detective Juan Galindo at (559) 600-8215. You may also contact Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.