Florida authorities apprehended and accused a man of murdering a 23-month-old toddler he was caring for while the child’s mother was at work. The Lakeland Police Chief, Sammy Taylor, revealed to journalists on Monday that 20-year-old Bobby Curry was apprehended on Friday and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Law enforcement officers were summoned to a residence on Kansas Avenue at 5:25 p.m. on March 5 following reports of an unresponsive child. Upon their arrival, they discovered 23-month-old Ezekiel Cotto Saint Fleur lying on the bathroom floor, unresponsive, not breathing, and lacking a pulse.
Officers swiftly commenced CPR on the child until emergency medical services arrived and assumed control. Ezekiel was transported to two different hospitals due to critical injuries, and tragically, he succumbed to his injuries around 5 p.m. on March 8.
At the time of the incident on March 5, Curry, who resided with the child’s mother, was responsible for looking after the child while the mother was at her workplace. Taylor disclosed that Curry was alone with the child during the mother’s absence.
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Although Curry and the mother had been in a relationship for approximately four months and cohabitated for about two weeks, Curry is not Ezekiel’s biological father. During interrogation, Curry purportedly recounted that between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., he bathed Ezekiel because he had urinated in the bed.
According to Curry, as he removed the child from the bath, one of the puppies leaped onto Ezekiel, causing him to fall backward and strike his head on the bathtub and subsequently on the floor. Taylor also noted that the puppy weighed approximately 15-20 pounds.
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Curry asserted that he relocated the still-breathing child to his bed to rest. However, at around 3:15 p.m., he revisited the child and observed that Ezekiel was barely breathing. Allegations suggest that Curry returned the child to the bathroom and initiated chest compressions. At one juncture, Ezekiel started struggling for breath.
Yet, Curry refrained from dialing 911. Instead, by 3:20, he reached out to the child’s mother via Instagram, apprising her of her son’s grave condition. Curry subsequently queried whether a child could undergo cardiac arrest via Instagram.
A volley of 67 Instagram messages ensued between Curry and Ezekiel’s mother until approximately 5:25, when she directed him to summon emergency services. Healthcare experts have disputed Curry’s version of events regarding the child’s injury, deeming it inconsistent with their observations and the extent of the injuries.
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In contrast, healthcare experts propose that the injuries suggest they resulted from physical maltreatment, as per Taylor. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office identified blunt-force trauma as the primary cause of death.
Following the revelation of the cause of death, law enforcement procured a warrant and apprehended Curry on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse on Friday. Taylor also expressed concern regarding the delay in contacting 911.
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