Dad charged with killing 5-year-old (Ponciana, Florida)

Dad MELVIN ORTIZ was all bent because his 5-year-old son was "wasting food" (i.e. he wouldn't eat his breakfast). So he beat the kid to death. Dad's charged with murder. Stepmom also admits that she's hit the child with a belt before; she's charged with battery. Apparently Mom had custody and lived in Puerto Rico, the child was visiting Dad at the time of the murder. Still think that all kids need to have contact with their dads, no matter what?

http://www.wftv.com/news/20213615/detail.html

Osceola man accused of murdering his 5-year-old son
Records show the boy's father and stepmother lost their temper and severely beat the child.

The father of 5-year-old Osceola County boy faces a murder charge in the beating death of his son following an altercation in which the boy hit his stepmother.

Melvin Ortiz, 28, of Poinciana, is being held at the Osceola County Jail, jail records show.

The boy's stepmother, Frances Marie Rodriguez, 24, also of Poinciana, faces charges of child neglect and battery.

Both parents are being held without bond.

Reports from the Osceola County Sheriff's Office show the boy was a victim of his parents' uncontrolled anger.

Fire rescue crews arrived at 1379 Burnley Court on July 24 after Rodriguez reported the boy had fallen at the playground and appeared to be losing consciousness, reports show. The child, whose name is not being released by law enforcement, stopped breathing and later died at the Osceola Regional Medical Center.

A medical examiner on Sunday determined the boy had suffered internal and external bleeding. Blunt force trauma to the abdomen and chest were listed as the causes of death, according to the forensic reports.

Investigators said both parents kept changing their stories after detectives called them in for questioning.

Initially, Rodriguez told investigators her stepson had fallen at playground and suffered some kind of injury. She later revised her story and said Ortiz was angry with his son for not eating his breakfast and struck him.

During Ortiz's interview, he told detectives he never struck his son. He then said he had become angry with the child for wasting food. He struck the child three times, but did not think the boy was seriously injured because "he was not bleeding," Ortiz told investigators.

Investigators charged Ortiz with domestic battery. Rodriguez was charged with child neglect.

On Wednesday, detectives called Rodriguez back to the sheriff's office for additional questioning.

She told detectives her stepson had angered her and she hit him with a belt. The boy hit then struck Rodriguez. His father witnessed the boy's rebellious actions and "seriously injured the child."

Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said they are investigating the boy's death. Although no incidents of abuse have been reported involving that family, investigators are concerned about other children living at the house."

One of our main concerns is assessing the safety of the two other children, ages 2 and 7," Hoeppner said. DCF officials said the boy lived in Puerto Rico with his mother and was visiting his father in Poinciana. Rodriguez is the biological mother of the other two children living in the house.