Missing toddler found dead in Florida
Florida boy, Ahizya Osceola, found dead inside the home where he lived with his dad and stepmom.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The father of a toddler found dead in his Hollywood home last week has bonded out of jail. His wife remains behind bars.
Hollywood Police charged Analiz Osceola with aggravated manslaughter, child neglect and providing false information in the death of her 3-year-old stepson Ahizya Osceola. The boy's father, Nelson Osceola, was charged with child neglect.
Nelson posted bail Wednesday evening and was released from jail, early Thursday morning. Upon release, Nelson had this to say to the media: "Can't talk about it right now, man, get the f--- out my face."
According to an earlier news report, court documents indicated the stepmother discovered him unresponsive last Thursday morning and cold to the touch while he lay in bed. Instead of notifying the boy's father or grandmother, who is a nurse, of his condition, she allegedly covered the boy in garbage bags and stuffed him in a box in the laundry room.
"We found the body in the bottom of an eight-inch wide box all the way at the bottom that was wrapped up in garbage bags," said Hollywood Police Chief Frank Fernandez.
Four hours later, Analiz reported Ahizya missing and told officials she also had belongings stolen, including a wallet and $3,000 in cash.
"She indicated there was money missing," Fernandez said. "Leading us to believe we had something other than a missing child."
Analiz's claims prompted police from multiple agencies to conduct a nearly 10-hour search before officials found the boy's body in an "obscure location" of the home, according to Fernandez.
"His body, from top to bottom, was bruised," said Fernandez, "and different bruises that appeared to have occurred over time. He also had other injuries that we reported to the Department of Children and Families."
When asked by investigators how the boy got the bruises, the stepmother said "from his clumsiness." She later said she hid Ahizya's body after she found him dead in a room they shared, investigators said.
Kenneth Tommie, Ahizya's grandfather, said the boy's cause of death was ruled to be internal bleeding, leading him to suspect his grandson was being abused while he lived at his father's home. "That's what it means to me," he said. "That's it for me."
The Broward Sheriff's Office Child Protective Investigative Unit shares the same suspicion, stating in one of their documents: "It was suspected the abuse was occurring at the father's residence."
Fernandez also alluded to the long term abuse Ahizya possibly experienced. "In his three years of life he endured what we believe to be significant amount of pain," Fernandez said.
According to a medical examiner's report, the little boy was so badly injured that his pancreas was split into three parts. The arrest affidavit reveals that Ahizya's body was badly bruised. According to the report, he suffered from "numerous bruises on his torso, right leg, head and face and to both arms and legs. He had numerous gouge marks to his neck."
Just last year, Ahizya's biological mother picked up her son for a visit and discovered a bruise on his face, according to a report from child protective services. The parents of Ahizya have repeatedly been investigated for their care of the child.
Nelson was told by a judge Monday he is to have no contact with his other two children until the investigation is complete. He was also charged with neglect.
Last Friday, Analiz was admitted to a psychiatric ward. On Wednesday, the parents were arrested and charged. Police said they appeared emotionally detached.
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