PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A man accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter inside their Pembroke Pines home appeared in court Thursday.
Jeronimo Anthony Duran, 33, did not speak in court, where the state described the details of the case as graphic.
A judge ordered that Duran be held without bond.
In a frantic 911 call obtained Wednesday by Local 10 News, Duran’s grandmother can be heard pleading for the dispatcher to send an ambulance to their home.
“Send an ambulance. That’s what I need, quickly!” the grandmother is heard telling the dispatcher in Spanish. “She’s unconscious, pale, please, quickly!”
Police said they found the little girl inside the home near Southwest Fourth Court and 177th Avenue, unconscious with injuries that included a gash to her neck.
The toddler was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital, where she died.
Police said Duran’s grandmother arrived to the home and found him lying on top of his daughter.
“Get off! What are you doing?” the woman yelled at her grandson, according to an arrest report.
Investigators said the grandmother then observed Duran getting up from a push-up position onto his knees, kneeling over the victim.
The grandmother told police that she then saw the victim bleeding and ran to her room to call 911. She said her grandson stayed in the kitchen and did not make any comments, staying silent.
Court records show Duran and his ex-wife had just been through a custody battle. A judge ordered shared parental responsibility despite claims by the child’s mother that Duran suffered from mental illness and had been Baker Acted at least five times.
According to the arrest report, Duran’s stepfather rushed over to the home and began CPR on the child before first responders arrived.
The stepfather declined to speak with Local 10 News Thursday.
As for Duran, he is facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.