Mario Granados, a seven-week-old boy, was rushed into Vanderbilt University Medical Center on July 16, 2007, with injuries that told a terrifying story before he ever could: a broken leg, fractured ribs, and a severe head injury. He had been in the care of his aunt, Marisol Alvarado, when the damage was done, and the baby never regained consciousness after arriving at the hospital.
In the days that followed, his mother, Ana Granados, was left trying to make sense of a nightmare that unfolded while she was unable to reach him, learning about his condition after he’d already been admitted and then waiting to be allowed to see him.
What emerged, according to later reporting, was an account of sudden violence sparked by frustration. Ana Granados said she confronted Alvarado and was told the baby had been crying, that his caregiver “lost her temper,” and that he was struck. Medical records referenced by local coverage described findings consistent with shaken baby syndrome and additional broken bones, underscoring that the harm was not minor and not accidental in its outcome. The infant’s death followed soon after the hospitalization, and a memorial listing for Mario Plafex places his death on July 30, 2007, aligning with reports that he died days after the July 16 admission.
For years, the case carried an extra layer of anguish because the person investigators focused on was gone. Authorities said Alvarado fled to Mexico, and she remained out of reach long enough to land on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted list. The case moved under a sealed indictment while time passed, and the family waited for a break that didn’t come quickly.
That break finally arrived through cross-border cooperation. Mexican police, working with the FBI, captured Alvarado in January 2014, but the extradition process stretched on before culminating in her return to Tennessee. By late April 2015, she was back in Nashville under escort by FBI agents and turned over to local authorities. Reports at the time said she faced charges including first-degree murder, along with child abuse and child neglect, bringing the case back into a courtroom after years of flight.
