The toddler’s father, Alfredo Munoz, 40, and stepmother Kelly Munoz, 34, were taken into custody in the 200 block of East Louise Street in connection with the child’s death, according to Long Beach police.
Officers initially responded to a hospital on Nov. 7 where the toddler was unresponsive and showing signs of severe trauma, police said. She was placed on life support and died three days later. Her identity is kept hidden.
Over the course of a two-week investigation, homicide detectives determined that the toddler had been the victim of ongoing abuse and that her death was a direct result of abuse by her father and stepmother, police said.
Both suspects are being held in the Long Beach Jail without bail, and detectives plan to refer the case to the LA County District Attorney’s Office next week.
Alfredo Munoz was previously sentenced to four years in prison in December 2021 after pleading no contest to one count of intentional cruelty to a child likely to result in injury or death, court records show.
A law enforcement source confirmed that the man charged in the previous abuse case in Long Beach was the same man arrested Tuesday. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Munoz had been released at the time the alleged abuse of the now deceased toddler occurred.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Homicide Dets. Ethan Shear and Kelsey Myers at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips can be left at (800) 222-8477 or at www.lacrimestoppers.org.
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