Toddler Dies From Multiple Blunt Force Injuries; Mom's Boyfriend Charged With Murder

A man in Louisiana has been taken into custody in connection with a toddler’s death after the child was found dead with multiple bruises.

Police and medics arrived at a home in Baton Rouge on Friday and found 1-year-old Ja’Leah Fontenot unresponsive. The responding officers also noticed multiple bruises on the toddler’s body as well as a large burn on her leg. The little girl was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

An autopsy concluded that Ja’Leah died from multiple blunt force injuries, ABC-affiliated television station WBRZ reported.

Following this, 34-year-old Jonathan Dunn, who was looking after the child, was taken into custody Sunday and charged with first-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to a juvenile.

An investigation has revealed that Ja’Leah was Dunn’s girlfriend’s daughter. Dunn has two children with the toddler’s mother and he would watch over all the children whenever she was away for work. On Friday too, the woman was not at home when the child was found unresponsive.

The toddler’s aunt, Sandra Sterling, said the child’s father, Gino Sterling, was also not around when the kid was killed.

"So, I was telling him, I said, 'Gino, you okay?' He said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'What’s wrong?' I said, 'Your baby was murdered last night.' He said, 'Who, Keke?' I said, 'No, Ja'Leah.' And he said, 'Huh?' Then, he said, 'I told them to get my baby.' And then the phone dropped and I just heard a scream," Sterling told CBS-affiliated television station WAFB.

The neighbors, however, cannot believe that Dunn could do such a thing.

"I don’t believe that boy (Dunn) did that. It hurt me so bad because I know he loved the children. Always wanted to see that they had something to eat, something to drink and everything," a neighbor said, adding that the accused was nice to her.

"All the time, he’d come and talk to me and tell me I’ve got the children down there or he’d have the children with him. Yeah, and he had to be tending to all those children because the baby wasn’t even his but he’d keep it because she (Ja’Leah’s mother) be gone. She didn’t show up," the neighbor added.

As of Monday, the accused was being held in jail with no bond.