A foster father has been accused of the brutal murder of a 13 year old boy, who was allegedly beaten to death over several hours at their home.
Cesar Delgadillo, 39, is alleged to have assaulted the child and forced a backscratcher into his mouth at their residence. The police were summoned to the property where they discovered the teenager covered in bruises and cuts. He later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The news comes on the same week a grandmother was brutally murdered while she walked her dog in Suffolk.
Both Cesar Delgadillo and his wife, Virginia Delgadillo, were taken into custody after officers examined CCTV footage from inside the house. Cesar has since been charged with homicide, as well as child endangerment, tampering with evidence, and obstruction.
Virginia, 34, faces charges including five counts of endangering the welfare of children, four counts of corruption of minors, and one count of tampering with physical evidence.
It’s believed that the boy was left to die in his bedroom at the Drums, Pennsylvania home following the alleged violent attack, which is said to have lasted for hours from Sunday night into Monday morning.
Home security footage also reportedly shows some of the couple’s other four foster children attempting to clean up blood around the house afterwards. Local news channel, WNEP, reports a significant amount of blood was seen on the floor during the assault.
The channel cites a police affidavit, which states: “The video captures large amounts of blood being deposited on the floor during the assaults. Some of the children who reside in the residence were observed actively cleaning blood from the floor.”
WNEP also reports that two other foster children woke Virginia on Monday morning and, after the mum found the 13 year old child unresponsive in his bedroom, she called emergency services. Despite the swift arrival of officers and paramedics, and the youngster being rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital in nearby Hazleton, he was sadly declared dead there.
The family’s five foster children range from five to 16 years old, according to local media. These outlets also report that the four surviving foster children are now in state custody, as Cesar and Virginia await court hearings in Pennsylvania later this month.
