GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man was in court Thursday to face murder charges in the death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son.
Elis Nelson Ortiz-Nieves wept as he was arraigned Thursday afternoon in 63rd District Court on murder, first-degree child abuse and being a habitual offender charges in connection to the death of 4-year-old Giovanni Mejias.
Autopsy results determined Giovanni died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen and ruled out the possibility of accidental injury. Several older injuries in various stages of healing were found during the autopsy.
Authorities were called to the mobile home on N. Green Meadow Street SE near Division Avenue and 60th Street Tuesday on a report that Giovanni wasn’t breathing.
Ortiz-Nieves allegedly told police he noticed Giovanni had a swollen stomach and pressed on it “to release pressure.”
Giovanni was taken to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Deputies say Ortiz-Nieves was watching seven children under the age of 11 in the home at the time of the incident. Two of the kids were his biological children, three of the children and Giovanni were his girlfriend’s and one child was a distant relative of Ortiz-Nieves.
Ortiz-Nieves was in a relationship Giovanni’s mother and they had been living together for about six months, according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.
Child Protective Services has taken his biological children and his girlfriend’s children into custody.