Lehigh Acres man charged in death of 23-month-old

A Lehigh Acres man has been charged with second-degree murder for the brutal beating death of a toddler.

The 23-month-old girl died after she was taken to the hospital with severe injuries suffered during abuse, according to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

Marceno said during a news conference Tuesday that Yannier Velazquez-Orjeda, 36, who was in a relationship with the child’s mother, went into the child’s bedroom and locked the door for 30 minutes on May 17.

Marceno said the child’s mother knocked on the door and saw the injuries to the child and found her unconscious.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office went to the home on 23rd Street SW after receiving a call about a child who fell and needed help. When deputies arrived, they found the child with life-threatening injuries.

Velazquez-Orjeda couldn’t explain her injuries, which included skull fractures, brain bleeding, spleen damage, and bruises all over her body.

She was taken to Golisano Children’s Hospital and later flown to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Deputies arrested Velazquez-Orjeda on May 17 on charges of aggravated child abuse and he was released May 19 on $250,000 bond.

Three days after the incident, on May 20, the child died from her injuries and the State Attorney’s Office upgraded the charges to second-degree murder.

A judge on Wednesday, June 17, set Velazquez-Orjeda’s bond at $500,000 on the new charge, and ordered that if Velazquez-Orjeda bonds out, he must wear a GPS monitor, have no contact with minors or with the victim’s mother.