New Jersey man allegedly raped girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter before burning, punching, and suffocating her to death
A New Jersey man who was initially accused of scalding, punching, and then suffocating his girlfriend's toddler daughter to death has now also been accused of raping her.
Maison Andres Torres, 25, was arrested last week after police responded to a residence on the 1500 block of Chestnut Avenue in Trenton at about 4:20 pm on August 21 on reports of a girl being unconscious after falling down the steps, according to New Jersey 101.5.
The toddler, identified as two-year-old Lia Victoria Merino-Rodriguez, was rushed to the hospital but did not survive her injuries and was pronounced dead later the same day.
But investigators suspected that there was more to the case and that the young girl did not die because she fell down a flight of stairs, a suspicion that was lent credence by the testimony of neighbor Oscar Martinez.
Martinez told Telemundo62 that he noticed the commotion coming from the opposite house after he arrived home from work and ran across to investigate. He said that when he entered the house, he found the body of Lia "alone in the little room."
He said he saw around six bruises on her forehead, and that the side of her face looked like someone had punched her. He said he tried to feel her pulse but there was no response.
An autopsy performed on Lia by the Middlesex County Examiner's Office confirmed that the toddler had been abused, physically and sexually, and ruled the cause of death as "homicidal violence."
They alleged that she died after Torres scalded her with hot water, punched her, and then suffocated her with his hands. They also accused him of raping the toddler.
Officials said the 25-year-old lived with the child and her mother in a room that the latter rented, and that the brutal assault took place while the mother was not at home.
Torres was initially charged with first-degree murder and second-degree child endangerment in connection to Lia's death.
But after further investigations were conducted and the rape allegations emerged, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri also charged him with two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault, and another count of second-degree child endangerment.
Torres is currently being held at the Mercer County Detention Center and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on August 27.