A Wilmington man has been charged with homicide after allegedly beating a friend’s 2-year-old daughter, possibly because she had diarrhea.
The child had been placed on life support Sunday and was declared dead Tuesday afternoon, Wilmington police said.
An autopsy Wednesday showed the girl had an apparent burn on her back and bruising on her abdomen and back, according to court documents. She died of a brain injury and abdominal bleeding caused by blunt-force trauma, police said.
Jonathan Rodriguez, 19, was caring for the girl and her two siblings at his home in the 300 block of E. Second St., Asbury Apartments, on Sunday while their mother was at work, Wilmington Detective Patrick Conner said in court papers.
About 8:30 p.m., Rodriguez called 911, saying he’d put the girl down for a nap and later found her unresponsive and not breathing, Conner said. He told police he picked her up, shook her to awaken her, started CPR and ran to another apartment for help.
Police and New Castle County paramedics took the girl to Wilmington Hospital, where doctors revived her. She was placed on a respirator and taken to Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Rockland, police said.
Rodriguez told police the girl had fallen off the couch a few days earlier, Conner said.
Dr. Allan De Jong, a pediatrician and child-abuse expert, said the girl’s injuries could not have come from such a fall, Conner said.
Conner said the girl’s 4-year-old sibling, who was with Rodriguez Sunday, told a family member that Rodriguez hit the girl because she had diarrhea. Also, a witness said they heard loud thuds coming from the apartment throughout the day, Conner said.
Police arrested Rodriguez Friday and charged him with one count of homicide by abuse or neglect. He is being held without bail at Young Correctional Institution.
