JUSTIN POLK - 2 yo (6/14) - / Charged: Mother and BF, Merissa Anderson and Jonathan Charapata - Orlando, FL

2-year-old found bruised, bloody at Orlando motel dies


The Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a 2-year-old boy at the Countryside Inn,
 located at 606 Lee Road, in Orlando. (PHOTO/Arnie Girard, Staff)

By Sandra Osborne and Bakari Savage, Team Coverage
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 03, 2014, 10:14 AM

ORLANDO --  - Investigators are searching for answers after a 2-year-old boy was found unresponsive at an Orange County motel and later died.

Around 9 a.m. Monday, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the Countryside Inn, at 606 Lee Road.

Justin Polk, who was found bruised and bloody, was taken to Florida Hospital South, where he was pronounced dead.

But Polk wasn’t the only child found inside the room. We’ve since learned two other children were hospitalized for observation, as of last night.

“It’s sad. It’s sad. I can’t even imagine,” said Quita Smith, who is staying at the hotel.

A woman outside the hotel told us her husband tried to revive the toddler.

“The maintenance man asked me if I knew CPR, but I knew my husband did,” said Jessica, a neighbor. “I ran upstairs to get my husband. Then, my husband came down, gave the kid CPR but then I heard that he died at the hospital.”

Deputies said the Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit is investigating Polk's death.

Neighbors said they saw other children in the room with bruises.

“It’s horrible if what I’m thinking is true," Jessica said. "I mean, we were supposed to be at work today, but I, we, my husband is still shaken.”

No other additional details have been released in this ongoing investigation.

We’re working to find out whether the children’s parents were present at the time.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/boy-2-found-unresponsive-at-orlando-hotel-dies/26287658

2-year-old died from blunt impact, possible strangulation, officials say
Boy found unresponsive at Orlando motel

Author: Michelle Dendy, ClickOrlando.com
Published On: Jun 04 2014 12:06:07 PM EDT  
Updated On: Jun 04 2014 05:38:23 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. -  A 2-year-old found unresponsive at an Orlando motel died of multiple blunt impact injuries with evidence of strangulation, according to the medical examiner's office.

Deputies said Justin Polk was found unresponsive Monday at the Countryside Inn at 606 Lee Road.  He was taken to Florida Hospital South, where he was pronounced dead.

No further details about the boy's death were immediately known.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Justin was in a hotel room with his mother, her boyfriend and two other children when one of the adults called 911 around 9 a.m. Monday to say that Justin was unresponsive.

Earlier Wednesday, a judge determined that the boy's siblings, a  3-year-old and a 1-year-old, will remain in Department of Children and Families custody.

"They are severe enough to lead us here today, that coupled with the passing of their sibling," said Kristi Gray of DCF.

At a DCF hearing, the judge said there was probable cause for the children to be placed in a shelter or with their grandparents instead of the mother. DCF said it will determine if the grandparents are deemed sufficient to care for the children, but in the meantime, they will remain in state custody.

The biological father of Justin was also in court, and a judge ordered the father and the two other children to go to grief counseling.

The mother of the 2-year-old, Merrissa Anderson, 22, said in court that the father of her 3-year-old didn't visit his daughter.

Local 6 spoke to a woman on Tuesday who said she saw the mother with her three children in the complex Sunday afternoon and saw noticeable bruises on one of the children.

"His face was black and blue, and deep yellow and the baby's eyeballs were bloodshot red," said Shelby Emerick. "And I asked the mom, I'm like, 'Oh what happened to your baby's face?' She goes, 'Oh, the baby fell.' And I'm like, 'No ma'am, that's not a baby fall.'"

Watch Local 6 for more on this story.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/2yearold-died-from-blunt-impact-possible-strangulation-officials-say/26325004

Posted: 5:31 p.m. Saturday, June 7, 2014

Boyfriend charged with child abuse after toddler's death; Mother held on $80K bond

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The boyfriend of 23-year-old Merissa Anderson was arrested on child abuse charges on Saturday, just hours after an Orange County judge increased Anderson's bond to $80,000.

Jonathan Charapata, Anderson's boyfriend, was arrested at a relative's home in Deltona Saturday afternoon. He faces two counts of child abuse in connection with the homicide of Anderson's son, 2-year-old Justin Polk.

The mother of three faced an Orange County judge Saturday morning after being arrested on child neglect and failing to report abuse charges Friday.

"Bonds are going to be increased as follows, based upon the charging affidavit," the judge said during the first appearance.

Her public defender told the judge she couldn't afford the $80,000 bond amount and asked him to reconsider.

"She indicates no stable place, she indicates transient, the ties to the community are tenuous, the facts of the case are serious," the judge said.

According to Anderson's arrest affidavit, the mother of three is pregnant with her and Charapata's first child. The couple has been living at the Countryside Inn on Lee Road, where 2-year-old Justin Polk Jr. was found unresponsive on Monday.

Investigators have ruled Justin's death a homicide, saying he died from blunt force trauma and he also showed signs of strangulation. Charapata was with the boy when he was found, according to deputies.

Justin Polk Sr. is the father of two of the children, while the father of the third child hasn't been identified.

"I just want answers, I want to know what happened," Polk said. "I knew from day one something was going on with the kids."

Polk told Eyewitness News he believed Anderson was being investigated by the Department of Children and Families.

"That's what DCF is there for, to protect kids and they failed big time," Polk said.

Channel 9 obtained documents Friday that show Justin had "bruising to his forehead" and "both sides of his torso near his ribcage."

The records also show that Justin's young brother and sister were taken to a Florida Hospital and that his sister had two left rib fractures.

"The other children in the hospital have also been abused and that really is heartbreaking," said Kristi Gray with DCF.

Authorities said the family has been involved in two other incidents in the past year with allegations of inadequate supervision and domestic violence. But deputies didn't find substantial problems in those cases. Domestic violence was found by DCF investigators during a 2012 incident, but there is no information available on who was involved.

A court ruled earlier this week that none of the adults involved are fit to care for the surviving children and they were placed in DCF custody. The Sheriff's Office said the homicide is an open and active investigation.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/death-2-year-old-found-orange-county-motel-ruled-h/ngGCM/

Another POS mother.  Another POS man.  Another dead baby.

DCF investigated family 3 months prior to 2-year-old's death
Witnesses say they tried performing CPR on child

UPDATED 10:03 PM EDT Jun 11, 2014

ORLANDO, Fla. —Three months before 2-year-old Justin Polk Jr. died after he was beaten and strangled, child protective investigators noted there was reason to be concerned for him and his siblings.

According to newly released Department of Children and Families documents, Seminole County investigators were called to a home where Merissa Anderson and her boyfriend, Paul Charapata, were living in March.

They described the home and the children as filthy and expressed concern that Anderson had violated an injunction by allowing her ex, who has a history of violent behavior, to have contact with their children.

Investigators said Anderson's current boyfriend Charapata did "not appear to pose any threat."

Charapata is now charged with two counts of felony child abuse against the two surviving children -- a 4-year-old girl and 1-year old boy.

Anderson is charged with child neglect and failing to report abuse. No charges have been filed yet in the toddler's death. Autopsy results said the toddler died of blunt force trauma and possible strangulation.

In 2012,  Anderson told DCF investigators that Justin's biological father had battered her more than 10 times in the year they had been together. Once Justin Polk Sr. was out of the house, DCF concluded that the "overall risk to child safety is low."

In 2013, Anderson again claimed Polk Sr. pushed her into a stove, burning her elbow. DCF investigators concluded again that the safety risk was low.

http://www.wesh.com/news/dcf-investigated-family-3-months-prior-to-2yearolds-death/26446486#ixzz34UA5kKMw

New evidence released in case of toddler found dead in hotel

Justin Polk found dead in hotel room in June

 UPDATED 5:30 PM EDT Oct 01, 2014


A week after a 2-year-old died from evidence of blunt force trauma, arrest affidavits revealed that Jonathan Charapata and the toddler's mother, Merissa Anderson, got into a fight the Friday before the toddler's death.


ORLANDO, Fla. —Newly released documents in a child abuse and neglect case show how a 2-year-old was living before he died.

The criminal cases are building against a couple in Orange County after one of their children died Monday.

On June 2, Justin Polk was found unconscious inside the Countryside Inn in Orlando, where he lived with his two siblings, his mother and her boyfriend.

A medical examiner ruled Justin's death a homicide caused by multiple blunt impact injuries with evidence of strangulation.

No one has been charged in his death, but his mother, Merissa Anderson, and her boyfriend, Jonathan Charapata, face other charges. Anderson faces three counts failing to report child abuse and two counts of child neglect. Charapata faces two counts of child abuse involving Justin's surviving siblings.

They remain in the Orange County jail.

There was a pre-trial hearing Wednesday in the judge's chambers on those charges.

According to newly released evidence, food, clothes and household items were scattered everywhere when crime scene techs took photos in the hotel room.

When Justin died, Anderson was at work and Charapata, who was unemployed, was watching the children.

Deputies on the scene noticed "all three of the children had visible bruising marks on their bodies and faces."

Doctors found signs of  "severe physical abuse" on the two surviving children, including one child who "had a few fractured ribs."

Anderson told detectives when she went to work, one child was awake. Justin and another sibling were sleeping in the bed.

The next pretrial hearing for the couple is Jan. 21. The trial is slated for Feb. 2.

Right now, Anderson and Charapata are scheduled to be tried together.

http://www.wesh.com/news/new-evidence-released-in-case-of-toddler-found-dead-in-hotel/28359350#ixzz3EvuHKynG