Post-mortem results, according to police, have revealed a “battered child syndrome” in the death of 4-year-old Hidalia Jomany Maldonado.
Hidalia, a resident of Roaring Creek Village, Cayo District, was the only child for her mother, Ysey Maldonado, and had reportedly fallen off a flight of board stairs on Thursday, October 28, and unto the ground, causing injuries to her body and face.
The documented injuries to little Hidalia’s body were reportedly a broken rib and internal injuries; she also appeared to have a redness to her face.
The Maldonado family, however, refutes accusations that the sudden death of their child is a result of abuse, and contends that the child indeed had fallen down the stairs, causing the fatal injuries.
The information reaching Amandala suggests that Hidalia had been beaten severely, resulting in her death. No charges have been issued as yet, however. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Cheryl-Lynn Branker Taitt-Vidal, explained that the police have not sent any information to her as yet.
Arnaldo Maldonado, 24, Ysey’s brother, told us that, “No I don’t think that that [Hidalia being abused by her step-father or mother] is possible, because they are not that type of people; she fell off the stairs and she didn’t seem to be in too much pain until the next morning when she died.”
According to Maldonado, Hidalia only started showing signs that she was sick in the night when she started vomiting. Ysey is said to have been preparing her to go to the hospital.
It was when Hidalia was being given a bath by Ysey, around 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 29, that she passed away.
“Ysey was a good mother; she always does her best for her; she took the best care of her,” said Maldonado.
Maldonado explained that it is hard for him to believe that the step-father could have done that, because he never abused Hidalia before.
“All my neighbors and my parents say that that is not possible,” he said.
On Tuesday, November 2, the post-mortem results stated that, “On 01.11.10 a post-mortem examination was conducted on the body of Hidalia Jomany Maldonado, 4, of Roaring Creek Village, Cayo District, where at the conclusion, doctor certified cause of death to be acute thrombosis of the heart due to sepsis, chest and abdominal trauma due to battered child syndrome.”