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Police: Autistic Toddler Beaten To Death By Mother’s Boyfriend

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 12:10 PST, May 25, 2016

An autistic toddler is dead, and his mother’s boyfriend is accused of the violent crime that led to his death. The Daily Mail reports that 3-year-old Jose Castillo-Cisneros was rushed to the hospital on Monday with life-threatening injuries that ultimately killed him. The details of this tragic case are shocking, including some of the alleged injuries the little boy suffered.

Authorities in Battleground, Washington, responded to the panicked call from a 9-year-old girl. The older sister of the 3-year-old autistic toddler called 911 while their mother’s boyfriend allegedly beat the child. During the 911 call, the mother of the child was allegedly hurt trying to intervene with the assault but became a victim in the attack as well. She was heard in the background saying, “he is killing me.” The 9-year-old girl reportedly witnessed her 3-year-old brother laying in a pool of blood while she called 911.

According to authorities, 40-year-old Ricardo Gutierrez became enraged when the 3-year-old child entered his room crying while he was trying to watch a movie. The child’s 9-year-old sister allegedly witnessed her mom’s 40-year-old boyfriend beating the tot and throwing him against a wall. However, this isn’t the only horrifying thing the child witnessed that day. According to reports, the child had what appeared to be a stab wound when he was looked over in the hospital.

KIRO News 7 reports that this isn’t the first time that Ricardo Gutierrez has been in trouble with the law. At the time of the autistic child’s violent beating, the Washington man was currently out of prison on parole. He has at least one prior conviction of assault. He has been accused of domestic violence in the past as well.

This is, sadly, not the first time a mother’s boyfriend has been accused of fatally harming her children. In fact, a 2011 report on Psychology Today claims that stepparents are more likely to kill their children than biological parents. Nonetheless, numerous sources report that approximately 80 percent of child abuse fatalities involve “at least one parent as the perpetrator.”

In 2010, a man made media headlines when he allegedly killed his girlfriend’s 13-month-old baby by stomping on her stomach. His alleged reason for committing the horrifying crime? He “couldn’t cope with her crying,” and reacted violently to put a stop to it. In 2014, a 3-year-old Florida girl died after she was reportedly victimized in an absolutely terrifying manner. Authorities claim that the tot’s new stepfather raped and beat her to death just a week after marrying the child’s mother.


The death of autistic toddler Jose Castillo-Cisneros has come as a shock to members of his community and folks on social media who have caught wind of this tragic story. Meanwhile, the man accused of murdering him has been charged with first-degree murder. He is currently being held in Clark County Jail on bond in the amount of $1.5 million. The mother of the slain child was reportedly injured during Monday’s incident, but no reports have indicated whether or not she’s been hospitalized. Furthermore, no reports have commented on the extent of the woman’s injuries.

[Photo via Clark County Sheriff/Family photo of victim]

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