REMEMBERING SANAI

Sanai Deleon-Pitts was only three months old when his life was taken on June 11, 2011, in Denver, Colorado.

At just three months old, Sanai was completely dependent on his parents for love, comfort, nourishment, and protection.

Instead, he suffered repeated physical injuries, including broken bones and severe burns, during the first months of his life.

His death revealed a pattern of abuse and neglect that no infant should ever experience.

Sanai's Story

On June 11, 2011, emergency responders were called to an apartment on South Federal Boulevard in Denver after Sanai was found unresponsive.

Paramedics rushed him to Swedish Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Medical professionals discovered numerous injuries on his tiny body.

Sanai had burns on his left thigh and right foot, an abrasion beneath his chin, injuries around his ears, and multiple broken bones.

His injuries included fractures to his legs, wrist, and ribs, some of which were already healing.

Investigators questioned his parents, Amanda Deleon and Calvin Pitts, about how their son had sustained these injuries.

Pitts told detectives that approximately two weeks earlier, Deleon had injured Sanai's leg while handling him.

After noticing that the infant's leg was swollen, Pitts attempted to treat it by heating a wet towel in a microwave and wrapping it around the injured area.

The towel caused a severe burn to the back of Sanai's left thigh.

Rather than seeking medical treatment, Pitts applied ointment and gauze.

He admitted that he avoided taking Sanai to a hospital because he feared medical professionals would become suspicious.

When questioned about a separate burn on Sanai's foot, Pitts claimed that he had fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette and that the cigarette had landed on the baby's foot.

He said he treated that injury with ointment as well.

Neither parent could adequately explain the numerous fractures and other injuries found on Sanai's body.

The medical examiner determined that Sanai died from complications of burns and blunt force injuries.

His death was ruled a homicide.

He was only three months old.

Warning Signs and System Failures

Concerns about Sanai's safety had been reported to the Denver Department of Human Services before his death.

When Sanai was approximately three weeks old, someone contacted the agency with concerns that his mother, Amanda Deleon, and maternal grandmother were smoking synthetic marijuana, sometimes called black mamba, around the infant.

Deleon tested negative for the substance.

Her mother later tested positive and was arrested for a probation violation.

Child protection workers continued having contact with Sanai's parents and warned them about the dangers of substance abuse.

During these contacts, Calvin Pitts reportedly appeared agitated and defensive.

There was also a report that Pitts had become frustrated with Sanai's crying and punched a hole in a wall.

It remains unclear whether child protection workers investigated or addressed that particular concern.

In the weeks before Sanai's death, he sustained injuries that required medical attention.

His parents did not obtain appropriate treatment for the burns or fractures.

The extensive injuries discovered after his death demonstrated that Sanai had experienced serious physical trauma during his short life.

Although child protective services had contact with the family, those interventions did not prevent his death.

JUSTICE FOR SANAI

Following Sanai's death, investigators arrested both of his parents.

Amanda Deleon and Calvin Pitts were initially charged with offenses that included first degree murder and child abuse.

The investigation documented multiple fractures, burns, and other injuries that demonstrated the severity of the abuse Sanai had experienced.

In June 2012, both parents pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death.

Their guilty pleas resolved the criminal cases without a trial on the original murder charges.

Each parent was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Amanda Deleon

Relationship to Sanai: Mother

Conviction(s): Child abuse resulting in death

Sentence: 40 years in prison

Calvin Pitts

Relationship to Sanai: Father

Conviction(s): Child abuse resulting in death

Sentence: 40 years in prison

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Sanai Deleon-Pitts lived for only three months.

He should have been safe in the arms of the people responsible for caring for him.

He should have been comforted when he cried, fed when he was hungry, and taken to a doctor when he was injured.

Instead, his short life was marked by repeated physical harm and untreated injuries.

Sanai never had the opportunity to celebrate his first birthday.

He never had the chance to take his first steps, speak his first words, attend school, or experience the milestones of childhood.

The public record tells us little about Sanai's personality or the small moments of his life.

But those missing details do not diminish his importance.

He was a baby boy whose life mattered.

He deserved tenderness, safety, and the opportunity to grow.

Sanai's death reminds us that infants cannot speak for themselves or seek help when they are being harmed.

They depend entirely on adults to recognize their needs and protect them.

Sanai deserved that protection.

He deserved a future.

And he deserves to be remembered.

Abuse Angels remembers Sanai Deleon-Pitts.

Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.