FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The stepmother of a 3-year-old boy who was found dead in his Hollywood home last month had her bond reduced Wednesday.
A Broward County judge set bond for Analiz Osceola at $210,000. She is charged with aggravated manslaughter and providing false information to law enforcement in the death of her husband's son, Ahziya Osceola.
Her bond was set at $230,000 after her arrest, but her bond was reduced after a child neglect charge was dropped.
According to an arrest affidavit, Osceola told police that she discovered Ahziya missing on the morning of March 19 after she noticed that the back door to the home was open and the door handle was loose. She told police that her wallet and cash were also missing.
However, Osceola changed her story after Ahziya's body was found and said he "had died during the night," the affidavit said.
Osceola said she was sleeping with Ahziya and her 5-year-old son when she heard Ahziya grunting about 1 a.m., the document said. Osceola asked Ahziya if he needed to use the bathroom and he said yes, so she attempted to lift him off the bed, but he repeatedly shouted no and said he didn't need to go anymore, the report said.
A few hours later, Osceola woke up and touched Ahziya, who was cold, so she put him on the floor and attempted CPR, but the boy had no pulse, the affidavit said.
Osceola "stated she knew that Ahziya was dead and placed him back on the bed," the document said.
Instead of notifying her mother, a nurse who was asleep in another room, Osceola put Ahziya back in bed "and never alerted anyone that he was dead," the report said.
She went back to sleep and waited until everyone but the children had left the house to hide Ahziya's body, the affidavit said.
Osceola "got two white garbage bags and placed Ahziya in them," the affidavit said. "She then dragged Ahziya to the laundry room, where she saw a box. She placed Ahziya inside the box and covered him with a clear plastic bag. She then stuffed two garbage bags completely filled with clothes inside the box to conceal him."
Asked what she planned to do with the body, the affidavit said, Osceola told police that she was "going to do something with him and then call the police, but she was unsure of what she was going to do."
READ: DCF Critical Incident Rapid Response Team report
An autopsy performed by a Broward County medical examiner revealed that "Ahziya had numerous bruises on his torso, right leg, head and face and to both arms and legs," the affidavit said. "He had numerous gouge marks to his neck. His left leg had a spiral fracture to the left tibia and a large open wound to the top of his foot and shin area."
"Ahziya would not have been able to stand or walk due to this injury," the medical examiner said.
Ahziya's cause of death was ruled to be blunt-impact abdominal trauma causing a transected pancreas and a lacerated liver.
"There were three adults living in the home, and all had access to the child and, again, the back door did not lock," defense attorney Sean Coccia told Local 10 News.
Coccia said his client is pregnant and maintains that she didn't kill Ahziya but panicked when she found him lifeless in bed.
"People react to traumatic situations differently and stress differently," Coccia said.
Coccia said that because of his client's financial status, the $20,000 bond reduction was tantamount to no bond at all.
Nelson Osceola, Ahziya's father, was also arrested on a child neglect charge. A separate arrest affidavit said he "failed to provide Ahziya with the care, supervision and services necessary to maintain Ahziya's physical health" and "failed to make a reasonable effort to protect" Ahziya from his stepmother.
He is currently out of jail on bond.
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