READING, Pa. — Authorities in Berks County have charged a Philadelphia man in connection to the death of a 2-year-old boy on May 5.
Charles A. Acosta, 25, is charged with homicide, multiple counts of aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of children, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office.
Acosta, who was watching the child at the time of his death, is accused of causing the multiple traumatic injuries suffered by the child prior to his death, according to Chief County Detective Michael J. Gombar.
Investigators charged Acosta on Wednesday. He was apprehended by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia Thursday morning and extradited to Berks County to face the charges, Gombar said in a press release.
According to investigators, the victim was taken to the Emergency Room of St. Joseph's Hospital in Bern Township in the early morning hours of May 5. The child was suffering from life-threatening injuries, and was transported via helicopter to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
An investigation was initiated by the Berks County Detectives and on May 9, an autopsy was conducted on the victim in Dauphin County.
The autopsy revealed that the victim suffered severe internal injuries, as well as head trauma. The cause of death was determined to be “multiple traumatic injuries” and the preliminary manner of death was determined to be a homicide, investigators said.
The criminal investigation revealed that prior to the victim displaying signs of medical distress, he was under the sole care and supervision of Acosta.
During the late evening hours of May 4, Acosta allegedly called the child’s mother and expressed concern over the child’s medical condition. He requested that she return home, investigators claim.
When the mother returned to her home on the 600 block of Schuylkill Avenue, she found the child was under "extreme medical distress," investigators said.
He was then immediately transported to the St. Joseph’s Hospital Emergency Room by Acosta and the victim’s mother.
Acosta is awaiting arraignment on the charges against him, and is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, investigators said.
