Horror in NJ: Infant dies, autopsy exposes truth behind father’s claims

🚨 A 3-month-old girl died in November after suffering severe brain and spine injuries

🚨The girl's father gave conflicting stories to what happened

🚨The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy told the actual cause of death

ATLANTIC CITY — A father of a three-month-old who died in his care told two completely different stories about what happened. Then an autopsy revealed the horrific truth, officials said.

On Nov. 12 at 8:40 p.m., police received a call about a girl not breathing at an apartment on Emerson Avenue. Emergency responders took the girl to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where doctors found bleeding on her brain and spine. The girl died three days later.

Antonio Reyes, the girl's father, told police that he had been feeding her when her eyes rolled backwards, she turned blue and stopped breathing. While she was at Cooper, agents from the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency told Reyes he was not allowed to see his daughter. He was given a bus ticket to return home.

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Autopsy findings reveal blunt force trauma

Instead, Reyes went to New York City and, after learning of his daughter's death, sent numerous texts to the child's mother explaining that their daughter's death wasn't his fault. He threatened to take his own life in the text, investigators said.

Reyes told a completely different story during questioning on Nov. 25, investigators said. Reyes told police he was holding his daughter when he accidentally tripped over a metal bedframe and dropped her. He heard a "metallic bang" and administered CPR, prosecutors said.

The results of a postmortem exam, which were completed on March 12, told a third story: homicide. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and neck, officials said. The girl suffered multiple brain hemorrhages, bilateral optic nerve hemorrhages, cervical spine injuries, and spinal cord hemorrhage, according to the exam.

Reyes was charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter and is being held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending a detention hearing.

New Jersey 101.5 did not know Tuesday whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

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