Sonoma County Man Accused of Drowning Daughter Sent to Mental Hospital

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A judge ruled Jan. 11 that a man accused of drowning his daughter in a church baptismal pool is to be housed for evaluation at Napa State Hospital until he's mentally competent to participate in the legal proceedings against him.

Gerardo Mendoza Ordaz, 42, of the Healdsburg area, is expected to undergo competency training and could spend up to three years at the hospital. On Wednesday, he agreed in court to continue taking his medication.

Ordaz was arrested and charged on Nov. 20, 2016 with drowning his 4-year-old daughter at St. John the Baptist Church in Healdsburg and willfully inflicting emotional distress on his 9-year-old son.

The criminal proceedings against him were suspended since his first court hearing on Nov. 22, and he was examined by two doctors who determined he was mentally incompetent.

Healdsburg police said Ordaz showed up naked and screaming for help in a parking lot behind the Police Department around 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 20.

He was carrying his daughter and was with his partially dressed son who was not physically injured, according to police. His daughter was pronounced dead at Healdsburg District Hospital about 90 minutes later.

Ordaz and his son told responding police officers they came from the St. John's Catholic Church about 75 yards away, Healdsburg Police Chief Kevin Burke said at the time.

"We believe the 4-year-old girl drowned, the father is responsible, and it occurred inside the church in the baptismal pool," Burke said.

Ordaz had been living in unincorporated Sonoma County near Healdsburg with four children and their mother at the time.

Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Sonoma County Sheriff