Description
A man is charged with the murder of a one-year-old child after police say he tried to cover up what happened with a lie.
During a press conference on Monday, Lakeland police said they arrested 20-year-old Bobby Curry Jr. for the death of Ezekiel Cotto-Saintfleur on Friday.
According to Police Chief Sam Taylor, officers responded to a scene on Tuesday, March 5 at a home on Kansas Avenue regarding a report of an unresponsive child where Curry was at the time.
When they arrived, authorities reportedly found Cotto-Saintfleur lying on a bathroom floor without a pulse. Officers performed CPR until the city's fire department arrived to also perform life-saving measures.
Taylor says Cotto-Saintfleur was transported to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, then Tampa General Hospital with critical injuries. On Friday, March 8, the child died while in care.
Authorities say Curry was babysitting while the boy's mother was working. The two were said to be in a relationship for about four months and were living with each other for about two weeks.
Curry explained to authorities that he just finished giving Cotto-Saintfleur a bath after the child wet himself when their puppy came in, leaped on the child and caused him to hit his head on the bathtub and then on the bathroom floor. Curry told police Cotto-Saintfleur tensed up after the fall, but was still breathing. He did not immediately call 911 after the incident.
MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/lakeland-murder-1-year-old/67-0ffa739b-b19a-4de6-8b22-74e9fb39b931
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