A phone call from the man watching her kids turned into every parent's nightmare for a Del Rio mother Sunday, after she heard one of her children crying on the other end of the line and rushed home to find her 2-year-old injured after her three children had been left alone. That discovery led to charges against 26-year-old caregiver Andrew De Leon, who police say abandoned and injured a child in his care at Gateway Apartments.
According to WOAI, the mother was at work when she got a call from the man watching her three children, ages 2 to 8. She heard one of them crying in the background, and when she asked what was wrong, the two got into an argument. She left work immediately and headed home.
Del Rio police were called to Gateway Apartments on Space Boulevard just before 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 11 to a report of three unattended children, the station's report states. When officers arrived, the older children told them the man had hurt their 2-year-old sibling, and officers noticed a visible injury to the toddler's head that appeared consistent with what the children described.
Toddler Taken for Medical Evaluation
Paramedics examined the 2-year-old at the scene before transporting the child to Val Verde Regional Medical Center for further treatment, per the same account. Police have not released details about the toddler's current condition. The facility is a 47-bed acute care hospital with a 24/7 Level IV basic trauma emergency department, according to the American Hospital Directory, meaning it can provide initial evaluation and stabilization before transferring patients who need higher-level care.
The investigation into exactly what happened inside the apartment remains ongoing.
Suspect Faces Two Felony Charges
De Leon was arrested and charged with abandoning or endangering a child with intent to return, as well as injury to a child, WOAI reported.
Under Texas Penal Code §22.04, intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to a child 14 or younger is an offense. Separately, the Texas Penal Code addresses abandoning a child younger than 15 with intent to return. The charges against De Leon remain allegations at this stage, pending court proceedings.
A Pattern of Child Safety Cases in Del Rio
This is not the first child welfare case to draw police and protective services into action in Del Rio this year. In January, Hoodline reported on a Del Rio mother arrested after makeup hid a child's bruise, a case in which a six-year-old girl's injury had allegedly been concealed from view. That same month, KSAT reported that Del Rio police arrested a different mother after a six-year-old reported physical abuse at a local elementary school, resulting in emergency CPS placement for six children in that home.
Open questions remain in the Del Rio case, including the toddler's exact medical condition, whether CPS has formally placed the other two children in temporary care, and what bond will be set once De Leon is magistrated. Police have said the investigation is ongoing.
