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Death of two-year-old girl ruled a homicide

Posted at 7:04 PM, Dec 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-23 00:15:29-05

UPDATE: Tucson Police say the child died on December 17th. She has been identified as Kamia Baptisto. The investigation has been ruled a homicide, police say, and additional charges are pending.

A 27-year-old man has been arrested for Child Abuse after police say he placed a two-year-old girl in a bathtub and the girl was found unresponsive when he returned, according to a media release from the Tucson Police Department. 

Warren Gastelum was arrested on one count of Child Abuse and has been transported and booked into the Pima County Jail.

Police say on Saturday night just before 11 p.m. officers responded to a request for police assistance from the Tucson Fire Department at 1700 West Prince. 

Before officers arrived, they learned that paramedics were responding to a report of a near drowning of a two-year-old girl at an apartment. 

As officers arrived, they learned that paramedics located the unresponsive two-year-old girl inside an apartment and immediately transported her to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Paramedics told police the child's caretaker was on scene. Officers then learned the caretaker was the boyfriend of the child's mother. 

Police say Gastelum was home alone that night with four children who were all younger than 7-years-old while his girlfriend was at work. 

Gastelum told police he had placed the two-year-old in the bath and stepped away for a few minutes. 

When Gastelum returned to the bathroom, he found the child unresponsive and called 9-1-1.

Detectives responded and learned from doctors that the child had significant injuries that were not consistent with drowning or a fall in the bathtub.

According to a police report obtained by KGUN9, the victim was found to have a depressed skull fracture, intracranial bleeding, and tested positive for THC. The report says the doctors stated the injuries were not consistent with "non-accidental trauma."

Gastelum was then arrested on the one count of Child Abuse. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for December 21 and is being held on a $100,000 bond. 

Court records show Gastelum was ordered to complete drug monitoring and treatment and is not allowed to have any contact with the victim, and no unsupervised contact with minors.

Police say the two-year-old girl remains in the hospital in grave condition. 

The investigation is still ongoing and additional charges may be added at a later time. 

READ THE INTERIM COMPLAINT: