A man was sentenced Thursday after he abused a 2-year-old boy in 2018, causing irreversible brain damage.
“The child survived but suffered a permanent traumatic brain injury,” the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office said.
Pedro Tamayo, 31, was found guilty of six counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated battery and seven counts of first degree cruelty to children. He was sentenced to a cumulative of 60 years in custody.
On June 20, 2018, Alejandra Lopez brought her son, who had extensive bruising over his entire body, to the emergency room at WellStar Cobb Hospital, the district attorney said. The injury to his brain was consistent with violent shaking, officials confirmed.
At the time, the mother was dating Tamayo and left the child, along with his 5- and 8-year-old sisters, at a home with him in the 3000 block of Nature Walk Trail while she went to work, arrest warrants previously obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show.
The 8-year-old girl told authorities the toddler defecated on himself, prompting Tamayo to take him into the bathroom to bathe him. The girl then said she heard “hysterical crying” until the boy suddenly stopped, according to the warrant.
The girl then entered the bathroom and said she saw her brother and Tamayo on the ground with the toddler bleeding from his mouth, nose and hip. Tamayo, after noticing the child’s breathing was abnormal, immediately left the home with the toddler, according to the warrant.
At the hospital, the boy was treated for wounds to his head and midsection, and was later taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite after additional injuries were discovered, warrants show.
On the way to CHOA, the warrant reveals that the child flatlined twice and needed to be revived with CPR. Upon arrival, the toddler required a shunt to reduce pressure to the brain, but officials said he experienced an extended period of oxygen deprivation, causing irreversible damage.
The toddler’s injuries were described in the warrant as redness, bruising and blistering on his buttocks, in addition to abrasions and bruises to his mid-back, legs, abdomen, upper chest, left side of the neck, forehead and behind both of his ears. Authorities said the toddler’s genitals and thighs also suffered severe swelling, bruising and abrasions.
Tamayo was arrested in Texas in July 2018 and brought back to Georgia to face trial. A grand jury indicted him in October 2018.
In February 2020, Lopez entered a guilty plea for failing to protect her child and initially lying to law enforcement about Tamayo’s involvement. Lopez, before telling police about Tamayo’s abuse, had told them she was with the child when he began having diarrhea, bleeding from the mouth and ears and breathing abnormally, according to the warrant. Lopez is awaiting sentencing.
“The trauma which happened to this child at the hands of this defendant is unspeakable,” District Attorney Flynn Broady stated. “The only solace is knowing that based on this sentence this defendant will not be free to do this to another child.”
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