HOUSTON – A Houston man is in jail and accused of severely beating his his girlfriend's son.
Edgar Ivan Gutierrez, 20, is charged with injury to a child - serious bodily injury.
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Authorities say police were called to Texas Children's Hospital on March 12 after the 1-year-old boy was transported by ambulance from an apartment in southwest Houston.
Court documents state the boy's brain was bleeding, he had two skull fractures and several bruises and cuts on his body. Doctors told authorities the boy's organs were also failing and described his intestines as "slush."
According to Gutierrez, he called 911 after he found the boy on the bedroom floor having a seizure.
Gutierrez told officials he takes care of the toddler and his 2-year-old sister while his girlfriend, the child's mother, is at work.
Gutierrez told authorities the boy's injuries were the result of him falling down the stairs a few days earlier.
Authorities at the hospital said the extent of the boy's injuries were consistent with abuse and not a fall down the stairs.
During a follow-up interview with police, Gutierrez said he threw the boy down on the floor. He also said that before the boy's seizure, the put him down "a little hard."
The boy's mother told police she wanted to take her son to the doctor, but Gutierrez did not want her to do so.
Gutierrez is being held in the Harris County Jail on no bond.