John Jefferson
Rosa Esperanza Garza and Shiann Lynn Erickson were charged with murder for allegedly beating a 3-year-old boy to death and blaming his injuries on a skateboard fall.
Two caregivers in Minnesota have been arrested and accused of killing a 3-year-old boy who was allegedly beaten to death earlier this year.
Rosa Esperanza Garza, 24, and Shiann Lynn Erickson, 22, were taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count each of second-degree murder without intent in the slaying of young Eastyn James Deronjic, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Moorhead Police Department, officers and emergency medical personnel at about 1:09 a.m. on March 18, 2024, responded to an apartment complex in the 1500 block of Belsly Boulevard South in Moorhead in regard to a 3-year-old child not breathing. The home is about 230 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Upon arriving, first responders located the heavily bruised child — later identified as Eastyn — and performed lifesaving procedures before transporting him via ambulance to Sanford Hospital. Unfortunately, the child succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the facility.
Police said that Eastyn and his younger sibling had been staying with Garza and Erickson in their Moorhead home for “an extended period.” Garza and Erickson were described as being “acquaintances” of the children’s biological parents.
Following Eastyn’s death, his sibling was removed from the home and placed into protective custody.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Eastyn but did not release any information regarding the boy’s cause of death as officials were waiting for the results of a toxicology screening.
“The investigation has been ongoing, and autopsy results were recently received,” police said in a Monday news release. “The Clay County Attorney’s Office issued warrants for the arrests, and both were taken into custody this morning without incident. The younger sibling remains in protective custody.”
Court documents obtained by the Star Tribune provided additional details about the circumstances surrounding Eastyn’s death.
According to the report, authorities on June 28 received the autopsy report stating that the child’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was a blunt force injury that perforated his bowel. In addition to the fatal blow, Eastyn reportedly also suffered 28 blunt force injuries throughout his body.
A witness reportedly told police that she went to the defendants’ home at about 1 a.m. to watch Eastyn and his sibling at the request of Garza because Erickson was ill and had to go to the hospital. The witness said that Eastyn appeared sick and was vomiting up whatever he ate. He asked the witness for a glass of water. He began to cough and gag before becoming unresponsive
The children’s mother reportedly told police that she had not seen her kids in about two weeks. When she had last seen them, she said she believed Eastyn’s bruises were due to him being uncoordinated. She last spoke with the boy a few hours before his death, saying he sounded sick but OK.
Garza and Erickson reportedly claimed that the bruising on Eastyn’s face happened the day before he died. They said he was vomiting over the toilet and passed out, hitting his head. Garza also claimed that the boy had fallen off his bike and skateboard that day.
Erickson reportedly claimed that Garza had been abusive toward her in the past, but said she had never seen Garza be violent with Eastyn. However, that claim was undercut when the couple turned their phones over to police, Fargo, North Dakota, NBC affiliate KVLY reported.
In a message from March 17, the day Eastyn sustained his fatal injuries, Erickson was reportedly fighting with Garza and wrote: “Ok have fun with your little b—-. Go beat on her kid.”
Garza and Erickson are both being held without bond in the Clay County Jail. They are scheduled to make their initial court appearances on Tuesday.
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