A New York woman was charged with murder Friday after authorities alleged she starved her boyfriend’s 7-year-old son to death earlier this year.
Leticia Bravo, 39, became the primary caretaker for Peter Cuacuas in September 2020 after the school year began and he stayed at her home every day until Saturday, when he want to his father’s apartment, Newburgh Police Commissioner Jose A. Gomerez said. In January, Peter stopped logging into virtual school and he was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital on February 10, where he was pronounced dead.
“An autopsy conducted by the Orange County medical examiner concluded that Peter — who weighed just 37 pounds — had died of malnutrition,” Gomerez said Friday. “It is alleged that Bravo left Peter locked and secluded in a bedroom behind doors, locked from the outside since January 2021.”
Bravo is believed to be Peter’s mother, but authorities were unable to say with certainty during a press conference Friday.
She was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and second-degree manslaughter. Her bail was set at $250,000 cash, but would be reduced with secured bond, authorities said.
Bravo faces 25 years to life in prison on the top charge of second-degree murder.
Peter’s father, Arturo Cuacuas, was charged with criminally negligent homicide but he was not in custody as of Friday, according to Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler. A phone number listed for him was not in service when NBC News reached out for comment Sunday.
Cuacuas was charged because although he had the child only one day a week, he “should have known” the conditions his son was in, according Hoovler.
Court records were not immediately available for either Bravo or Cuacuas and it is unclear whether they have retained attorneys.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
