Man charged with murder after allegedly beating toddler to death in Chester County

A man has been arrested and charged with murder in Chester County, Pennsylvania, after allegedly punching a 21-month-old boy in the stomach so hard that it killed the toddler, according to investigators.

30-year-old Enrique Lopez Gomez of West Grove, Pennsylvania, is charged with third-degree murder, Involuntary Manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, and other related charges in the death of the toddler.

“This Defendant brutally injured a toddler under his care, failed to get the child medical care, and caused his death. It’s difficult to fathom how someone could do this.”

District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe

According to detectives, dispatch received a 911 call for an unresponsive child just before 11:00 p.m. in the 600 Block of Cope Road in Kennett Township.

When EMS arrived at the scene, the toddler’s mother walked out of the home while carrying the child wrapped in a blanket as he foamed at the mouth and nose. Medics discovered that the toddler did not have a pulse and alerted police after noticing bruising on the child’s body.

The toddler was transported to Nemours/A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, but medical staff was unable to resuscitate him. The child was pronounced dead shortly after.

According to investigators, an autopsy later determined that the child died from blunt force trauma to his abdomen.

The incident began when the toddler’s mother, Nora Perez Gomez, went to work, according to the Inquirer, and the child was left in the care of Lopez Gomez.

Lopez Gomez told detectives that he was changing the child’s diaper at around 4:30 a.m. Monday, inside the apartment that he shares with Perez Gomez when he slipped and fell and accidentally hit the child with his knee, according to the Inquirer.

When the child kept crying, Lopez Gomez said he punched him in his abdomen and put him in bed.

According to the Inquirer, when the toddler’s mother returned home from work, the child was showing serious signs of an injury, but Lopez Gomez did not tell her about what happened.

Perez Gomez later took her son to the residence on Cope Road, but Lopez Gomez did not go with her.

The child’s uncle called 911 to report that the toddler was unresponsive.

According to the affidavit, the child’s mother and Lopez Gomez gave conflicting reports about the boy’s injuries. Still, both said they believed the “evil eye” had been cast upon him, according to the Inquirer.

He remains in custody on a $10,000,000 cash bail on top of an ICE detainer.

According to the Inquirer, Lopez Gomez is from Guatemala, but it’s still unclear if he came to the country legally.

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