A man has been charged with beating a 21-month-old baby to death Tuesday morning in the South Side Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Uriel Vega, 22, faces one count of first-degree murder for the death of Raiylana Vasquez, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was responsible for taking care of the child at the time of her death.
Officers responded at 11:22 a.m. to the 4700 block of South Honore and found Raiylana unresponsive, authorities said. She had suffered “obvious” signs of trauma.
Raiylana, who was 21 months old, was taken to Holy Cross Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 12:18 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy Wednesday found she died of multiple injuries due to child abuse, and her death was ruled a homicide.
The investigation revealed that the girl died due to blunt force trauma caused by Vega, who lives on the same block as the incident, police said. He was scheduled to appear in bond court Thursday.
The state Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the mother’s boyfriend for allegations of abuse and neglect, according to a spokeswoman.
DCFS has had prior contact with the baby’s mother, according to the spokeswoman. Two investigations, one in September 2015 and one in August 2016, proved unfounded. The mother was indicated for neglect in February 2016.
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There are three siblings in the family who do not live with the mother, but with another family member who has custody, according to the DCFS spokeswoman.
