www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21001865322921/ - Video
MIAMI (WSVN) -- A father is facing some hefty charges after being accused of doing something unthinkable to his own son.
Twenty-three-year-old Lee De Jesus appeared in court twice Wednesday. First to face child abuse charges and then to face second degree murder charges after the judge heard that the his 2-year-old son, Bobby Williams was left brain dead. "The best definition of death these days is indeed brain death. Everything else is somewhat antiquated," said the judge.
De Jesus stood before the judge with head hung low. He wore a green vest, which indicated he is on suicide watch.
According to a police report, De Jesus put on some boxing gloves and pummeled the boy in the head, shoulders and torso until he was unresponsive. Police said De Jesus told them he was trying to teach the toddler how to box, Monday night, at his family's Homestead apartment. To make matters worse, the father waited nearly an hour before dialing 911.
A neurosurgeon at Miami Children's Hospital pronounced the child brain dead Tuesday night. Family members said they have come to terms that the boy will not survive and are preparing to remove him from life support by the end of the day, Wednesday. They hope to give his organs to donation.
Rescue crews had to airlift the boy to the hospital after they responded to Apartment 7, on the second floor of 316 SW 4th Ave., following the 911 call.
De Jesus allegedly confessed to police that he decided to teach his child how to box, and, police said, he struck the child as much as 15 times, causing the boy to hit his head on the wall and then on the tile floor before he had a seizure. Police said De Jesus failed to call 911 until he noticed the child turning blue after placing him in bed. The boy's mother was working at the time.
"Whatever it turns out to be, he earned it," said Maria De Jesus, the child's grandmother and the mother of the accused. "If that's the case. You don't do that to no child like that."
