AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora man was arrested Saturday amid an investigation into the death of a 4-year-old boy, the Aurora Police Department said Sunday evening.
Alexander Martinez-Armstrong, 24, was brought to the Aurora Municipal Detention Center on a first-degree murder charge, police said.
This case began around 10 p.m. on Saturday, when Aurora police responded to an apartment along the 14100 block of E. Tennessee Avenue after receiving a report of a young child who was not breathing or awake. When officers arrived at the scene, Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics were trying to revive the boy, who had "significant injuries," police reported.
The paramedics reported that the boy was in cardiac arrest, according to an arrest affidavit Denver7 obtained on Monday. The boy also had bruising of various stages of healing covering his "entire body from head to toe," the document reads.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he died of his injuries that evening.
Martinez-Armstrong is not the child's father but was considered his godfather, according to an affidavit.
Police noted that the bruising was elongated marks, "which could be from objects like whips of belts," the affidavit reads.
The Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics who had arrived at the scene ahead of police reported that a man was standing over the child when they got to the apartment. That man was identified as Martinez-Armstrong.
Police spoke with people in the area and collected evidence from the scene.
Police also spoke with Martinez-Armstrong at the apartment. He had picked up the child from his biological mother about four days prior, he said. The child was at his apartment to complete schoolwork and "was on punishment for being bad, disruptive and not listening to" his mother or aunt, the affidavit reads. Martinez-Armstrong told police he had permission to punish the boy "using the same methods she used," which he said he had witnessed, the document reads. That included belt whippings, open palm spankings, push-ups, planks and wall-sits, it continues.
Martinez-Armstrong told police the boy's face was bruised because he fell while doing push-ups, the affidavit reads. He also explained that he had whipped the boy with a belt and hit him with an open palm six times, the document reads.
The suspect said the boy "messed up" several times on Saturday and subsequently received 21 belt strikes, the affidavit continues. He said he would aim for the boy's buttocks, but because he was moving around, it sometimes struck other parts of his body. Martinez-Armstrong said he "would not swing with full intensity," the document says.
He told police that when the boy said he was tired Saturday, Martinez-Armstrong walked him to a couch and gave him a blanket. When he checked on him around 10 p.m., he realized he was unresponsive, so he called 911 and a dispatcher walked him through CPR, the affidavit reads.
Martinez-Armstrong told police when the boy arrived at his home a few days prior, he had no bruising. Another witness at the scene gave inconsistent information and police said she was omitting some details.
The biological mother of the child told police that she never inflicted injury or left a mark when she disciplined her son, and did not know that Martinez-Armstrong would hurt the boy.
These interviews, plus the evidence collected from the scene, led to Martinez-Armstrong's arrest.
The cause and manner of death for the boy is under investigation and will be released by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office.
Anybody with information about this case is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
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