Toddler Died of Blunt Force Trauma; Father Arrested

The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital late Wednesday

The father of a 20-month-old Baldwin Park boy has been arrested and booked on suspicion of murder, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The toddler died of blunt force trauma, the LA County Coroner's Office said Thursday afternoon.

Baldwin Park police were called shortly before 11 a.m. to a duplex in the 3700 block of Downing Avenue, Deputy Mark Pope, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, wrote in a new release, which classified the case as a "suspicious death investigation."

Investigators confirmed the arrest late Wednesday to Telemundo 52. The father was identified by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department as 32-year-old David Vazquez, pictured below in his booking photo.

Bond was set at $1 million.

The father took the toddler to the hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead, said Detective Eddie Brown, with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau. Homicide detectives were called to the hospital about 1:19 p.m., Pope said.

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Brown said the toddler was the only child living in the duplex, which appeared to be "clean and tidy" upon first inspection.

In a news release Thursday afternoon, the sheriff's department said the county Department of Children and Family Service has responded to a call at the house about a year ago.

"The then-infant boy sustained a leg injury that was investigated by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. That incident is also under investigation by Homicide detectives," the sheriff's department stated.

The initial statement from the sheriff's department noted the child was a girl, but officials later said the child was a boy.

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