A Florida father was arrested after police say he killed his 2-year-old daughter.
Jeronimo A. Duran, 33, was brought into the Broward County Jail on May 28 on murder and child abuse charges, according to online court records. He is being held without bond and has pled not guilty.
Duran was arrested when authorities arrived to a home at about 9:42 a.m. on May 28 for a report of an injured kid, according to a press release issued by the Pembroke Pines Police Department. When officers came, they discovered a two-year-old daughter “bleeding profusely from her neck.” First responders administered treatment before transporting the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Authorities examined Duran’s arrest report, which recounts the events leading up to the girl’s discovery. Duran picked up his daughter — whose name is deleted in the public arrest report — from his ex-girlfriend’s residence shortly before 7:30 a.m. that day and drove her to the house where he lives with his grandmother.
According to the report, Duran’s grandmother returned home after an appointment at about 9:30 a.m. and found him in the kitchen lying on top of the girl, with the two facing each other. She reportedly questioned him what he was doing and instructed him to “get off.” Duran pushed his body away from the girl, and the grandmother allegedly noticed that she was “blue in color and discolored,” prompting her to phone 911 in another part of the house.
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The grandmother returned to the kitchen and allegedly observed Duran kneeling over the bloodied girl, according to the arrest report. According to the complaint, the grandma “ran to her room as she did not want to observe anything further,” while Duran remained in the kitchen and was silent.
Duran’s stepfather arrived at the house and performed CPR on the girl before first responders arrived and provided treatment. According to the arrest report, a responding police officer discovered the girl with a “slit across her throat.” Detectives discovered a stainless-bladed black-handled steak knife on the kitchen floor with blood on it. The report also mentions that the kitchen floor was covered in blood.
Duran, who allegedly had blood all over his body and clothing, was detained by police at his house. During questioning, he allegedly revealed that he “suffers from mental illness” and had previously been committed to a facility under the state’s Baker Act, according to the report, which is a legislation that allows for involuntary mental health assessment and commitment.
According to the police report, Duran stated that he stopped taking his antidepressant two weeks ago and began consuming marijuana, including on the day of the alleged murder. According to the story, he allegedly confessed to choking his daughter until she became unconscious and then sliced her neck with a kitchen knife after his grandma left the kitchen.
According to court documents acquired by NBC Miami, Duran’s daughter’s mother moved out of their house in March 2023, stating that Duran was “erratic, aggressive, violent, and dangerous.” Melody Alana Rose Duran, the daughter, was recognized.
Duran and his daughter’s mother were in a custody fight, but a judge-approved parenting plan enabled him to care for her unsupervised, according to documents acquired by NBC Miami. The mother was opposed to the deal, stating Duran had previously been forcibly confined to mental health facilities under the Baker Act, had stopped taking his medicine, and had “a history of hearing voices to end his life, some while the child was with him alone,” according to the site.
Duran’s attorney, David A. Frankel, told PEOPLE, “Jeronimo has suffered from severe mental illness his entire life. What happened and why may never be revealed. In a world full of sorrow, this is particularly tragic.”