A 24-year-old Philadelphia man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the 2023 murder of a 2-year-old Reading boy.
Charles Acosta was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury in May following a three-day trial. He was found guilty of causing the death of Emiliano Velazquez, who suffered multiple serious injuries while Acosta was babysitting him.
Acosta was sentenced on Sept. 19th by Berks County Judge Eleni Geishauser to life in prison without parole.
According to police:
Early on May 5, 2023, the 2-year-old arrived at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Bern Township for treatment of life-threatening injuries. The boy was later flown to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Dauphin County, for more advanced critical care.
When Emiliano arrived at Hershey, the boy did not have a pulse and had to be resuscitated in the trauma bay. Doctors found several life-threatening conditions, including extensive intra abdominal contamination, septic shock, gastric perforations and low levels of oxygen in his body tissue.
The boy was taken into surgery, but his condition continued to deteriorate. He died shortly after 2 p.m.
An autopsy revealed Emiliano died of multiple traumatic injuries and his death was ruled a homicide.
Acosta, who was in a relationship with the boy’s mother and living with them at a home in the 600 block of Schuylkill Avenue, was babysitting Emiliano at the time of the incident.
The investigation was referred to Berks detectives, who first interviewed Acosta on May 8, 2023. Acosta indicated Emiliano’s mother had left the home about 9 p.m. May 4 to get their laundry from a relative’s home.
He and the boy’s mother told investigators that Emiliano was complaining from stomach discomfort and had vomited, but he was acting relatively normally.
Nearly four hours later, Acosta called Emiliano’s mother, telling her to come home immediately because the boy needed to go to the hospital. Acosta later told investigators that Emiliano had been vomiting blood and was lethargic.
When Emiliano’s mother arrived home about 1 a.m. May 5, she immediately noticed the boy’s condition had changed drastically over four hours. After being handed the child, she asked Acosta why the child’s entire body was swollen.
She got into the car with Emiliano and her other children and Acosta, who started to drive to the hospital while the boy’s mother called 911. They were instructed by dispatchers to go to St. Joseph because it was just a few minutes from their location.
Acosta was interviewed a second time on June 19 at the county detectives office. In neither interview was he able to give a reasonable explanation for how the boy’s injuries occurred while he was supervising the boy.
Authorities determined the injuries could only have been inflicted by an adult.
Acosta was taken into custody by a U.S. Marshals task force, county detectives and Philadelphia police in July at his home in the Tacony section of Philadelphia.
Source: Berkshire mont
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