Ahizya Osceola's Father, Stepmother Charged in Boy's Death (UPDATED)

UPDATE:
During a press conference announcing the arrests, Hollywood Police Chief Frank Fernandez said that Ahizya's cause of death was blunt force trauma. Ahizya suffered damage to his pancreas and liver, Fernandez announced, citing the Broward County medical examiner.

"Today we believe that justice has been brought to the forefront," he said. "Ahizya suffered injries internal and external and was deliberately hidden from law enforcement."

Analiz Oceola, the boy's stepmother, continually contradicted herself during interviews with investigators, Fernandez revealed. "She knew the child was injured that needed medical attention."

Fernandez also confirmed that the boy's body had been hidden inside trash bags and then placed in a box.

"No child should ever endure what little Ahizya had to endure during his life," Fernandez said, indicating that some of Ahizya's bruises and injuries had been done over time.

Fernandez was asked if DCF dropped the ball when it was called to the Osceola home four separate times, only to write in their files that abuse was "unsubstantiated."

"Th only true failsafe system is responsible a parent," Fernandez said. "I'm not in charge of DCF, and it would be inappropriate to comment on DCF," he added.

According to the medical examiner, Ahizya was not alive when placed in the box. Fernandez also credited Broward Sheriff's Office and the Seminole Police Department for assisting in the investigation.

ORIGINAL POST:
Hollywood Police have arrested the father and stepmother of 3-year-old Ahizya Osceola, who was discovered dead and stuffed in trash bags in a box inside the woman's laundry room last week.

According Hollywood Police, the boy's stepmother, Analiz Osceola, is being charged with aggravated manslaughter and child neglect. She is also being charged with breaking "Caylee's Law" for allegedly providing police with false information.

Ahizya's father, Nelson, has been charged with one count of child neglect.

Court documents had recently revealed Ahizya's stepmother had been with him the night he died. Osceola had told investigators she heard the boy making grunting sounds at 4 a.m. the night before he was reported missing. She claimed that when she touched him, Ahizya was “slightly cold to the touch but still warm." 

Osceola also told investigators she attempted CPR and tried to give Ahizya Pedialyte. But she told them that she thought that was a bad idea and tried to induce vomiting by stuffing her fingers down his throat. She again tried CPR but didn't get a pulse. She then left him, and when the boy's father, Nelson Osceola, came home, she didn't say anything about Ahizya. Nor did she tell her mother, who was asleep in another room the entire time.

At 7 that morning, when Nelson and Alaniz's mother left the house, Osceola stuffed Ahizya's body into two trash bags, one to cover his legs and the other his head. She then placed the body in a box. She didn't report Ahizya missing until around 11 a.m. When she did report him missing, she mentioned that her wallet and keys were also gone, prompting police to believe it may have been an abduction.

Hollywood Police dispatched K9 units to conduct a massive search around the area of the home located in the 5400 block of Johnson Street, in Hollywood. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a Missing Child Alert. A chopper was also sent out to sweep the area. It wasn't until the next day that investigators say Ahizya was found in the home, located in an "obscured area."

According to the court documents, Ahizya's body had been covered in bruises, including on his head. Osceola told investigators at the time that the bruises were the result of the boy constantly running into things and being clumsy. 

Osceola, who is reportedly two months pregnant, told investigators she had been having suicidal thoughts ever since she had Candy, her and Nelson's 7-month-old daughter. Osceola was Baker Acted shortly after Ahizya's body was found, and her two other children were taken from her. 

Analiz and Nelson Osceola have been transferred to the Broward County Jail.