Left to right: Cynthia Hernandez and Daniel Eduardo Romero (Miami-Dade Corrections).
A Florida woman has been arrested following a harrowing incident in which her 6-year-old autistic son was nearly beaten to death by her boyfriend, authorities report.
32-year-old Cynthia Hernandez faces charges including child neglect with serious injury, failure to report abuse, and giving false information to the police, as per Miami-Dade County jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
Her boyfriend, Daniel Eduardo Romero, 34, is also implicated in the case. He was apprehended on January 11 and faces charges of aggravated child abuse with serious injury, child neglect, and providing false information to law enforcement, according to jail documentation.
This investigation was sparked earlier this month when officers responded to a call about a 6-year-old in cardiac arrest at a home on Northeast 179th Street in Miami, as detailed in an arrest report obtained by Miami-based NBC affiliate WTVJ.
Upon arrival, police discovered the child without a pulse. They performed CPR until paramedics arrived, who then managed to restore his pulse and transported him, along with Hernandez, to Jackson North Hospital, authorities stated.
Romero allegedly claimed he was teaching the boy to ride a bike when the child fell, sustaining bruises and scratches on his forehead and face. However, when asked to produce the bike, Romero reportedly failed to do so.
Then came the narrative shift, law enforcement says.
Romero subsequently changed his statement to say the pair were playing on a wagon instead of a bike, police said. The wagon provided, however, had a broken wheel and appeared weathered and long out of use, according to the police report.
The male defendant allegedly went on to say he did not think the child was severely injured, so he did not initially seek medical care. The next morning, the boy was lethargic and became progressively weaker as time passed until he finally lost consciousness, Romero said, eventually prompting the 911 call, according to law enforcement.
Hernandez, when questioned, also first gave the story about her son falling from a bike, police say. Later, the mother admitted she only said what her boyfriend wanted her to say, police allege.
Then, the female defendant said that when she woke up on the day in question, she found her boyfriend next to her son. Romero allegedly told her the child had been rocking on the edge of the bed before he fell and hit his head on a television and then hit his head on a food stand.
At the time, Hernandez said, she noticed swelling on the rear of his head along with a small cut and some bleeding, as well as a swollen arm, according to the police report. So, she gave her son some medication, applied ice to the swollen areas, and left the house.
When she returned home, the mother found her boy had suffered yet more injuries, including a large lump on his forehead and scratches on his face, police said. This time, when she confronted Romero, he said he slipped and fell while running with socks on, police allege.
That’s when Romero fed her the line about the bike, should she be questioned, Hernandez allegedly told law enforcement.
Eventually, the mother relayed concerns that her boyfriend was, in fact, to blame for the serious injuries, police said. She said Romero was often irritated by the boy’s autistic behavior and their 5-month-old’s crying, adding that her boyfriend severely disliked the older sibling’s biological father and would become incensed when his last name was used, according to the arrest report.
The child was later transferred to Holtz Children’s Hospital. There, staff found he suffered internal bleeding to his brain and abdominal cavity, lacerations to his liver, kidney and spleen, a fractured left arm, bruising and scratches to his face, bruising to his back, swelling to his forehead and back of his head, according to law enforcement. A physician’s assistant said the injuries could not have been caused accidentally but rather were likely the result of blunt force trauma.
“You hurt my child, you hurt my grandson to the core,” the little boy’s grandmother told WTVJ earlier this week. “You beat on a 6-year-old autistic boy like he was nothing.”
In a statement to the local TV station, an attorney for the female defendant took the North Miami Beach Police Department to task.
“We are extremely disappointed that the N.M.B. Police Department has decided to arrest and press charges against a mother who is nothing more than a victim. People are not perfect, but this is a dire mistake,” Hugo Apellaniz said. “The police are aware that our client is also a victim at the hands of Daniel Romero as unfortunately her son was as well. The focus is on her son’s health and recovery, and we look forward to her being vindicated.”
Romero is being detained without bond, jail records show. Hernandez is currently awaiting a bond determination.
