MIAMI – A father of nine is facing second degree murder charges after his 2-year-old son was pronounced dead Sunday.
Angel Villegas was arrested after prosecutors said he threw his son, who had been vomiting while battling a cold for several days, onto the bed at their home in the 400 block of Southwest 4th Avenue in Homestead.
The toddler was on life support until it was terminated Sunday. Shortly after, the 2-year-old was pronounced deceased.
At the time of the accident, the boy hit his head against the wall and was declared brain dead.
Doctor's monitored the child, but an assistant state attorney announced late last week that they did not believe the toddler would make it through the weekend.
Villegas had been arrested in other states and had a prior domestic violence case filed in Florida, prosecutors said.
Villegas was originally ordered to stay away from his son at the hospital.
His next door neighbor, Raul Gonzalez, told Local 10's Baron James that Villegas shook his son too much.
"They fight everyday, and I tell them what happened over there? I can't sleep, you fight over there all day and night," said Gonzalez. "He was shaking the baby, kicking the baby, outside he was kicking the baby over there. He was bam, bam."
Meanwhile, his other eight children are in the custody of his wife. There is no word yet on the family having any history with DCF.
"The defendant poses a threat and harm to the community," said prosecutor Adam Luna Gunneroff.