San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a U.S. Navy corpsman Thursday accused of killing a child in Alpine and now, officials have determined the boy died from blunt force injuries.
Nineteen-month-old Lucas Orlando was rushed to Rady Children’s Hospital Monday afternoon.
Deputies were called to the Alpine Oaks condominium complex on Arnold Way in east San Diego just before 2 p.m. where they were told Lucas had fallen.
Deputies performed CPR on the toddler before he was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. Two days later, the toddler died from his injuries.
Now, deputies say based on the nature of the injuries and evidence gathered at the scene, they believe the death is a homicide.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's (ME) office said Saturday the autopsy on the little boy had been completed. The ME determined Lucas' cause of death to be blunt force trauma, and the manner of death a homicide.
On Thursday, U.S. Navy Corpsman Brett Brown, 29, was arrested by investigators in connection with the toddler's death. Brown was booked on charges of murder and assault on a child with force likely to cause death. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
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Brown is attached to Naval Medical Center San Diego, a Navy spokesperson told NBC 7.
Anyone with information can call SDSO Homicide Detail at (858) 974-2321 or after hours at (858) 565-5200. No further information has been released.
