Jeremy Diaz, a 6-year-old boy in Texas that was allegedly hit by his neighbor with a baseball bat in September, died on Tuesday after spending two months fighting for his life on a hospital ventilator, according to authorities and an update on GoFundMe from his father.
“Early this morning I was checking him and noticed a pale face and eyes with no motion. Then his heart stopped,” Jeremy’s father, Arturo Diaz, wrote on the GoFundMe page on Tuesday. “They tried to resuscitate him, but it was not successful.”
Jeremy was sleeping in his bed on Sept. 11 when 39-year-old Daniel Logan entered the Georgetown home and assaulted him and another individual in the house, said the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. His skull was fractured in multiple places, causing swelling to his brain, according to an arrest affidavit about the incident.
The other victim was Daniel Logan’s mother, 69-year-old Cynthia Logan. She followed the suspect into the neighbor’s home after she watched him enter the residence through the shattered glass of the back door while holding a bat. She found Jeremy slumped on the floor of his bedroom.
After pleading with her son to stop, Cynthia Logan was hit in the face with a baseball bat. She suffered a facial laceration and one of her lower teeth were knocked out. Police were called to the home just after 5 a.m. by the suspect’s wife, Kristen Logan. Jeremy Diaz and Cynthia Logan were transported to the hospital for treatment.
Daniel Logan was charged with two felonies for causing serious bodily injury to a child, and aggravated assault of a family member with a weapon, said criminal case records. The court has ordered a mental health assessment and are holding him in custody on felony bonds totaling $650,000.
Arturo Diaz said his son was doing much better on Saturday. The family intended to extubate him because he didn’t need a ventilator anymore. His condition worsened rapidly on Monday night when he had a neural storm — a stress reaction caused by brain injuries.
“It was the worst storm we had seen and it came out of no where. It was almost 6 hours of hell on earth — I can only imagine the torture he went through,” said Arturo Diaz.
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On the night of the incident, Arturo Diaz and his wife Yilin Tang were awoken by loud banging from the ground floor of their residence, said the arrest affidavit. Arturo Diaz had tried to protect his family from the suspect, while his wife screamed to call 911.
The sheriff’s office said they are awaiting autopsy results from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office and if the findings warrant it, will “present the case to a grand jury for the charges to be enhanced to Capital Murder.”
Marc Chavez, the attorney representing Daniel Logan, said his prayers go out to the Diaz family, and that he hopes they find peace in this tragic time.
“While the allegations sound troubling, we ask everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts come to light especially while we investigate issues related to serious mental illness,” said Chavez.
Jeremy’s father shared a story about how his son led him by the hand to read a story book on the night before the neural storm.
“When we were done reading, the last thing he said was, “papa, watch me cover myself,”” Arturo Diaz said. “Today I covered his face for the last time.”
During his time in the hospital, the child needed a spinal tap, suffered infections and throat swelling, and needed to wear a temperature-regulating suit. Jeremy’s father said he wanted to be Iron Man for Halloween, and was “fighting for his life just like a superhero.”
“I was there when he took his first breath and saw him take his last, ‘ wrote Arturo Diaz. “No parent should see their children buried before them.”
