Valencia Park father, 33, ordered to stand trial in 2021 death of baby daughter

A close-up photo of a San Diego Police officer File photo courtesy of the San Diego Police Department A man accused of inflicting fatal injuries upon his -week-old daughter at their Valencia Park-area home was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on murder and child abuse charges William Dudgeon is charged in the death of the child referred to in court only as Bella Dudgeon called on the evening of June to record the girl was unresponsive according to testimony from a preliminary hearing held Tuesday The child was hospitalized with numerous severe injuries including a brain bleed rib fractures and bruising Tuesday s testimony revealed Dudgeon was initially arrested on suspicion of child abuse but was re-booked for murder after the girl died on June Dudgeon communicated police he was alone with the girl at the time as the child s mother had left home about an hour before was called San Diego police Sgt Aaron McNett testified The girl s mother commented she didn t see any injuries on the child when she left the home and established McNett a photograph of the girl from the previous day that didn t display any visible injuries he testified Dudgeon denied harming the girl and reported she d fallen unresponsive after feeding her but McNett reported later in the interview Dudgeon admitted to perhaps squeezing the girl too hard while playing with her At another point he reported he had gotten into an argument with the girl s mother was upset and demanded her to see Bella hurt McNett testified Much of defense attorney Melissa Tralla s questioning during the preliminary hearing concerned investigators interviews with Dudgeon Tralla suggested police overlooked an intellectual disability that may have led Dudgeon to be more susceptible to being influenced by the investigators questions While McNett explained a Rady Children s clinician explained him the girl s injuries would have become visible right now after they were inflicted Tralla explained multiple police and fire personnel opined that the bruising looked older and that the girl s autopsy did not include conclusions as to when the injuries occurred Tralla also argued that despite Dudgeon s comment regarding an argument neither he nor the girl s mother otherwise stated any argument and their text message exchanges reflected nothing negative between them Dudgeon remains in custody without bail