Teen Told Police He Was Trying To Check Facebook When Toddler Died
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - Prosecutors in Greeley have charged a 17-year-old as an adult in the death of a toddler.
Police say Jesus Cornelio, 17, told investigators he shoved his 2-year-old cousin in a struggle over his cellphone.
Police say Cornelio told officers several stories before they say he admitted to shoving the boy off a couch, causing the child to hit his head.
Cornelio told police he was trying to check his Facebook account. He faces a charge of child abuse resulting in death.
When police and paramedics arrived at the mobile home park responding to a call of a lifeless 2-year-old child, they were unable to help him. The boy was taken to a hospital where doctors found massive bleeding in his brain. They tried to operate but the boy went into cardiac arrest. Although they revived him, he died within a couple of days.
Police records say that Cornelio "violently struck Jose Angel-Cornelio Espinoza in the chest," which then caused him to "fall backwards and hit the back of his head hard."
Before he can even be tried, some of Cornelio's family members rallied outside of the Weld County Courthouse last week supporting what they say is his innocence.
Cornelio's father says he's not a criminal. His sister says Cornelio has been taking care of the boy since he was born. His mother says it was an accident.
The toddler's mother said, "I've always trusted family, but not anymore. I thought he was safe because he took care of another child, so I thought he could take care of mine. If he was innocent, then he wouldn't be in jail."
The district attorney released a statement saying, "When I looked at all of the facts, I thought it was in the interest of justice. It was in the best interest to file charges as an adult."
Cornelio told police three different stories about what happened before the final version leading up to the toddler's deadly injury. According to the arrest affidavit he first told police that the child had, "fallen from a couch outside his presence." Then he changed his story and told police there had been some sort of "horseplay" before the child was hurt.
Cornelio's third version he told police was that he saw the child "jumping on the couch and falling off, striking his head on one of the coffee table legs."
In his final account, he told the detective that he was trying to check his Facebook with his cellphone when the boy tried to take it away. He "violently struck Jose Angel Cornelio-Espinosa in the chest which caused him to fall backward and hit the back of his head." Then he told police that he picked up the baby by the arm, shaking him a few times until the child started to vomit and became almost lifeless.
Cornelio's first court appearance is on April 26.
