Miami, FL: Two individuals, Giovani Jose Garces (26 years old) of Opa-Locka and Jameelah Lakendra Cosper (23 years old) of Miami Gardens, are currently facing felony charges of severe child neglect and aggravated child abuse.
According to police, X-rays revealed further concerning injuries suggesting “severe physical abuse” when two parents from South Florida brought their newborn daughter to the hospital less than two weeks after she was born with a wounded right ankle.
The parents brought their 15-day-old daughter to Hialeah Hospital on January 28 after “realizing that (her) right ankle was bruised,” according to an arrest report from the Opa-Locka Police Department.
A fractured right ankle was determined by the hospital’s doctors, who subsequently sent the girl to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for additional evaluation, according to the police.
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Police said a “more in-depth X-ray” found a cracked skull, which is another major injury. Based on their suspicions, the hospital personnel contacted the police and the Florida Department of Children and Families to report a possible case of child abuse.
According to authorities, while the investigation was ongoing, the DCF entrusted her aunt with the care of the newborn.
The arrest report did not include Garces’s first statement to the authorities. On February 6, investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at his residence on Northwest 30th Avenue, where they allegedly took several images of the crime scene.
On Friday, authorities detained Garces, and on Monday, they apprehended Cosper. Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center has both parents in custody without bond as of Tuesday afternoon.