A 4-year-old girl died after being rushed to a hospital from a home in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, and her father is now facing charges, according to court documents.
Prosecutors had said that Francisco Ortiz, a 34-year-old from Worcester, was arraigned in court Wednesday and held without bail on assault and battery charges in connection with a child's serious injuries.
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Ortiz was arraigned in court Wednesday and held without bail on charges of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury, permitting substantial injury to a child, another county of assault and battery, two counts of permitting injury to a child and reckless endangerment of a child, according to the Worcester County District Attorney's Office.
It wasn't immediately clear if Ortiz had an attorney who could speak to the charges. He's due back in court for a dangerousness hearing Wednesday.
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Prosecutors didn't share more details about what led to the child's injuries, how seriously the child was hurt or what relationship Ortiz had with the child, but documents filed in Worcester District Court offered more information on the case.
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Police were called to Ortiz' home at the Sever Square Apartments about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a 4-year-old who'd fallen on the floor and was unresponsive, and when officers arrived, Ortiz was the only adult at the home. He allegedly said the girl had fallen off a kitchen table.
The child was rushed to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, court documents said. Doctors who treated her said the girl had a skull fracture that was consistent with falling two stories, not a fall from a table, and that she had bruises all over her body.
Ortiz allegedly said the bruises were from previous falls.
There were two other children at the address, ages 2 and 5, whom Ortiz told police he had custody of and had been raising by himself for two years. Both appeared to be bruised, malnourished and dehydrated, according to the court documents.
Worcester police referred questions to prosecutors. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families told NBC10 Boston in a statement that it "took custody of the children living in the home and is investigating in collaboration with law enforcement."
Other tenants at the complex were shocked to learn the child may have died at the hands of her father.
"We just heard that some little girl, they saw doing CPR on a stretcher, taking her to the ambulance," said neighbor Michael Dodds.
"I seen EMTs come out with a 4-year-old girl doing compressions and stuff on her," added Shandi Morris.
