Florida Parents Arrested After 3-Year-Old Toddler with Autism Drowns in Pond
Barbara Ruiz and Lester Ortiz of Sanford were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and denied bond, according to reports
Seminole County Sheriff's Office (2)
Barbara Ruiz and Lester Ortiz mugshots.Two Florida parents were arrested after their 3-year-old son with autism drowned in a pond behind their apartment complex, according to multiple reports.
Barbara Ruiz and Lester Ortiz were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, according to Fox 35.
At around 3:14 p.m. on Saturday, Sanford police arrived at the Sanford area apartment in response to a missing child diagnosed with autism, per News 6.
Ortiz called the authorities and said that his son was last seen 30 minutes earlier before going missing, police said, per the outlet.
Ruiz then told officers on the scene that the boy “has eloped in the past but was found by a neighbor and brought to the apartment complex’s front office where Lester retrieved him,” according to an arrest report, News 6 reported.
The mother also told authorities that she was in the bathroom of their apartment at 12:40 p.m. when she heard the sound of the door open and close, per the outlet. Ruiz then told her 15-year-old daughter to go check the front door. However, according to Ruiz, the teenager did not notice the other child was missing, per the outlet.
"Ethan has left the residence on three different occasions," the parents said in the arrest report, according to WESH 2.
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Police noted that Ortiz had a "strong odor of fresh marijuana coming from his clothing, bloodshot eyes, sweating profusely,” and Ruiz “also had bloodshot eyes and that the entire residence had a strong odor of freshly smoked marijuana,” the outlet reported.
After failing to find the child inside the residence, Sanford police said that “officers observed an unknown object floating in a nearby pond that is located directly behind the couple’s apartment” at about 3:33 p.m. When the police entered the water, they discovered the boy, who was rushed to a hospital by the Sanford Fire Department and pronounced dead at 4:12 p.m., per News 6.
Related: Former Georgia Daycare Operator Gets 30 Years After Death of Baby Placed Face-Down in Pack 'n' Play
On Monday, both parents appeared in court and were denied bond due to probation violations, according to Fox 35. Ruiz had a prior conviction of child abuse from earlier this year while Ortiz was previously convicted of theft, per the outlet.
Back in March, police said they received a call from apartment managers about the child, according to WESH 2. An officer who had arrived at the scene said that the child had been left unattended previously. The boy was seen in the pond where he was later discovered dead on Saturday.
"It's even more tragic when it could have been prevented because these parents had knowledge that this 3-year-old knew how to get out of the apartment. It had happened on a number of occasions,” Sanford police spokesperson Bianca Gillett said, per the outlet.
"You have two parents in the home; you had no safety measures taken for a child you know has done this on multiple occasions, so they absolutely could have prevented the death of this child,” Gilet continued.
The Sanford Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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