Arrest warrant: Assault and blunt force trauma were the cause of death for toddler in Moorhead – InForum

MOORHEAD — The caregivers of a 3-year-old boy who died in March have been arrested on murder charges. An arrest warrant filed Monday said the toddler’s final autopsy report “showed 28 blunt force trauma injuries” and “noted that the manner of death was homicide and the cause of death was assault.”

Shiann Erickson and Rosa Garza, also known as Mason Garza, both of Moorhead, were booked into the Clay County Correctional Facility on suspicion of the unintentional killing of Eastyn Deronjic, according to a Moorhead police news release Monday, July 8.

Investigators recently received autopsy results and 22-year-old Erickson and 24-year-old Garza were arrested Monday morning, the press release said.

Deronjic’s younger sibling is in protective custody, police said.

Police began investigating Deronjic’s death on March 18 after being called to the Stonecrest Apartments, 1402 Belsly Blvd., because a child was not breathing.

In the months since, family and friends have demanded answers and justice in the boy’s death.

“Someone needs to be charged and held accountable for Eastyn’s death,” his grandmother Adisa Deronjic said during a march in June.

Court documents show that Garza and Erickson had been caring for Deronjic and his younger sibling since August 2023, according to statements from the boy’s biological mother, who told police she left the children in Garza’s care “due to personal issues.”

Garza told police that he and Erickson – who is identified in court documents as Garza’s girlfriend – tried to get Deronjic’s biological mother to sign over “temporary care” to them.

Garza and Erickson were not home when officers arrived at their apartment in the early morning hours of March 18. A woman at the home told police the couple called her to watch the children so Garza could take Erickson to the hospital because she was sick.

Court documents show the woman had only been in the house for about 20 minutes when dispatch received the 911 call about an unresponsive child. The woman told officers she knew Deronjic had been vomiting since mid-morning. She told officers that when she arrived, Deronjic, who was lying on the couch, asked her for some water, which she gave him, at which point he began coughing and gagging and became unresponsive.

When three police officers arrived, they found that Deronjic “appeared to have severe bruising on his face and body.”

When officers questioned Garza at the hospital, he told them Deronjic began vomiting on the night of March 16 and the vomiting got significantly worse the following day, court documents say. He told police he propped Deronjic up on a pillow on the couch before he and Erickson went to the hospital because he appeared to be having trouble breathing. Garza said Erickson suggested taking Deronjic to the hospital with him, but Garza “said the victim was fine,” the warrant says.

Garza claimed that the bruises on Deronjic’s face were the result of the boy passing out while vomiting alone in the bathroom.

When investigators questioned Erickson, according to court documents, she admitted that Garza attacked her and sometimes lost her temper with Deronjic. She “put herself between the victim and Defendant 1 (Garza) so that Defendant 1 would strike her and not the victim,” Erickson told officers, but denied witnessing Garza attacking Deronjic in the days before the boy’s death.

Family members of Deronjic, including his biological mother, told investigators they noticed the boy’s bruises but that he seemed happy. Garza also told them Deronjic had fallen off his bike and skateboard.

The woman who was at the apartment caring for Deronjic the morning of his death told investigators Garza had “a hot temper, just like Defendant 2 (Erickson).” She said she saw Garza slap, snap and punch Deronjic when he was angry, according to court documents.

A preliminary autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that the boy suffered multiple blunt force injuries.

The probable cause statement for the arrest warrant includes an angry text message exchange between Garza and Erickson the afternoon before Deronjic’s death, as well as a conversation between Erickson and her mother about how sick Deronjic was just three hours before he became unresponsive, and in which Erickson tells her mother she is going to take the boy to the hospital.

Investigators also reviewed video surveillance of Garza and Erickson coming and going from the apartment in the days before Deronjic’s death, as well as photo messages on Garza’s phone showing Deronjic with a bruise under his eye and a swollen and bruised abdomen.

Clay County Assistant District Attorney Pamela Foss is prosecuting the case. No court dates have been scheduled.