A North Carolina man was charged Thursday with first-degree homicide in reference to the dying of his lately adopted child son.
Van Erick Custodio, 42, can also be charged with felony baby abuse, WSOC-TV reported. Investigators mentioned that the child died as a consequence of his accidents from the alleged abuse.
Custodio was initially solely going through the kid abuse fees after authorities obtained a name on April 1 that the boy had gone into cardiac arrest. He was rushed to a close-by hospital with life-threatening accidents, however later died on April 13, resulting in the added homicide cost, Legislation & Crime reported.
It had solely been a number of weeks since Custodio and his spouse adopted the 6-week-old boy.
Arrest warrants obtained by WSOC mentioned that Custodio allegedly admitted to abusing the kid "a number of" instances. The newborn's accidents included a cranium fracture, damaged rib and a number of fractures in each legs, in line with the warrants.
Custodio additionally reportedly spoke concerning the alleged abuse with associates who later went to the police. The warrants mentioned that he allegedly instructed them that "he threw the kid on the couch and likewise squeezed the kid, listening to a pop within the rib space" and "jerked the legs of the kid again and felt a pop within the kid's legs" whereas altering his diaper, WSOC reported.
When Custodio allegedly admitted to abusing the boy, his spouse instructed him to go away their home, one of many warrants mentioned.
Custodio was in South Carolina's York County when he was arrested on April 11, in line with a information launch from the Gastonia Police Division. He was introduced again to Gaston County in North Carolina on April 13.
In response to Custodio's LinkedIn web page, he most lately labored as an assistant professor at Belmont Abbey School and an adjunct professor on the College of North Carolina at Charlotte.
UNC Charlotte mentioned in a press release that the varsity had employed Custodio "on a restricted, short-term contract" to show one class as an adjunct.
"He has been positioned on administrative depart, and one other school member will cowl this class for the rest of the semester," the assertion added.
Belmont Abbey School, which is positioned in North Carolina as effectively, additionally shared a press release with WBTV saying that the varsity employed Custodio in 2019 to show pc science.
"He lately took household depart and was not actively working for the faculty. Efficient 4/13/2022, he was suspended from instructing at Belmont Abbey," the assertion learn. "Our prayers and hearts are with these impacted throughout this time."
Custodio's professor web page with Belmont Abbey School exhibits up in Google outcomes, however when clicked on, the varsity web site says that the web page cannot be discovered.
On his private web site, he describes himself as a "a UX Marketing consultant trying to deal with the subsequent venture."
Custodio's case is one in all a number of current lethal incidents involving dad and mom and their youngsters. A 2-year-old boy lately died in Oklahoma after his father by accident ran over him in his truck, and a Florida lady allegedly killed her two youngsters and instructed detectives "I do not need them anymore."
Newsweek reached out to UNC Charlotte, Belmont Abbey School and the Gastonia Police Division for additional remark.
Replace 4/15/22, 6:10 p.m. ET: This story was up to date with extra info and background.
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