Authorities suspect toddler crushed by obese aunt

LA JOYA - Authorities suspect a morbidly obese, bedridden woman caused the skull fracture that killed her 2-year-old nephew earlier this week.

The toddler - Eliseo Gonzalez Jr. - died Tuesday after police found him unresponsive at her home on the 800 block of Rancho Escondido, on the city's east side

Hidalgo County sheriff's deputies remain tight-lipped about how the injury was inflicted, but Justice of the Peace Bobby Contreras said Friday they believe the woman somehow fell on the child.

Contreras, who pronounced the toddler dead at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen, estimated the boy's aunt weighed more than 800 pounds.

"It didn't look like there was any foul play from what I saw," he said.

Sheriff Lupe Treviño declined to discuss the ongoing investigation but described the toddler's death as "suspicious."

Investigators believe he may have been staying at the home after his mother dropped him off for the day. It remains unclear whether there was anyone else there who was supposed to be watching the child besides his bedridden aunt.

Charges of homicide, manslaughter or child endangerment could be filed in the case, pending autopsy results due out Monday, the sheriff said.

"At that point, we will determine whether anyone should be held criminally responsible," he said.

Family members declined to comment Friday about Eliseo's death. But their neighbors were shocked to learn the family had come under criminal investigation.

Maria Marrero said she noticed police and an ambulance pull up outside the house Tuesday morning but was later told by the child's grandmother that his injuries were self-inflicted.

In their version of events, Eliseo had crawled under his aunt's bed and could not be coaxed to come out. While there, he hit his head on the floor several times, Marrero said.

"I don't believe that they would have done anything on purpose to hurt those children," she said. "Nobody in this neighborhood would."

But this week's events are not the first time Eliseo's family has come under suspicion of child abuse.

Investigators with Child Protective Services had been called out to the home five times prior to look into allegations ranging from physical violence to neglect.

They found evidence to substantiate the suspicions in only one case, agency spokesman John Lennan said.

"Whenever we have investigated, the mother has always cooperated with case workers," he said. "And just because someone has had cases called does not necessarily mean there is abuse going on."

Since Tuesday, Eliseo's three siblings - a set of 1-year-old twins and a 5-year-old - have been temporarily placed with a relative, pending the conclusion of the criminal investigation.
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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.