ALBERT LEA, Minn. — An Albert Lea man has been charged with the alleged murder of a two-year-old.
According to charging documents, 24-year-old Austin Navarro has been charged with murder and child endangerment for his role in the death of his girlfriend's child.
Officers from the Albert Lea Police Department responded to a home on James Avenue in the city after receiving reports of a person yelling and a second call from the mother of a child that was unresponsive.
The officers were told the man who was providing care for the child had left the scene.
Navarro was pursued by an officer and ultimately stopped within a mile of the residence, where he would tell officers he left the scene because he was scared.
The child was transported to an emergency room at a local hospital, where he died.
A detective photographed the child's body after he died and noted severe bruising throughout his body, according to the document.
In an interview with the police, the mother said she had left her two-year-old and 12-week-old children with Navarro while she went to work.
She told officers that she received a message from Navarro saying the two-year-old fell down the stairs and was seriously hurt.
She allegedly asked Navarro to send a picture of the child, which she received over an hour later and showed the child appeared unresponsive and had blood on his lips.
The mother came home from work early and noticed a knife had been jammed in the door in an attempt to prevent it from opening, according to the document.
She allegedly found Navarro upstairs behind a locked door with both children, Navarro was holding the baby while the two-year-old was laying on the bed.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office determined that the cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
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