North Miami Seaside man accused of abusing 5-year-old going through 9 expenses – NBC 6 South Florida

Prosecutors have filed nine charges against a North Miami Beach man accused of severely abusing his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son with autism who was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Court documents show 34-year-old Daniel Eduardo Romero is facing four counts of aggravated child abuse causing great bodily harm involving torture, four counts of child neglect causing great bodily harm, and one count of tampering with a victim.

Miami-Dade CorrectionsMiami-Dade Corrections

Daniel Eduardo Romero

Romero has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond while he awaits trial.

Romero had been arrested last month after police responded to a home in the 1400 block of Northeast 179th Street for a report of a 5-year-old child in cardiac arrest.

In body camera footage released by police, the child, Mason, was seen wrapped in a blanket and had no detectable pulse.

Mason was given CPR until Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews arrived and regained a pulse, and he was taken to Jackson North Hospital in critical condition.

Family PhotoFamily Photo

Mason

Doctors reported internal bleeding in the brain, lacerations to the liver and kidney, a broken arm, and bruises covering his entire body.

According to an arrest report, Romero gave conflicting stories about how Mason was injured, first claiming he was teaching the boy how to ride a bicycle when he fell, then changing his story and claiming they were using a wagon.

Romero said the boy didn’t appear to be seriously injured and medical care was not sought but he woke up lethargic the next day and progressively weakened and when he became unresponsive they called 911, the report said.

The boy’s mother, 32-year-old Cynthia Hernandez, was later arrested on charges including child neglect, failure to report child neglect and providing a false statement to law enforcement, officials said.

Police had previously said Hernandez was cooperating with the investigation and told officers Romero would become frustrated with Mason because of his neurodevelopmental condition. Records also show Romero has two prior convictions for domestic violence.

In the arrest report, Hernandez told detectives that Romero had a short temper and anger problems.

Hernandez’s attorney criticized her arrest, saying she was also a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Romero.

Her mother also said she’s a domestic violence victim.