Ahizya Osceola Was Found Stuffed in Box and Covered in Bruises

UPDATE: Ahizya's father and step mother have been arrested on aggravated manslaughter and child neglect charges.

Analiz Osceola, the stepmother of deceased 3-year-old Ahizya Osceola, stuffed the boy's body inside a couple of trash bags, then placed him in a box in her home's laundry room, say court documents. Osceola claims 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," the documents, obtained by CBS MIami, say. The documents also say he was covered in bruises from head to toe.

When asked about the conditions in which the boy's body was found, Hollywood Police told New Times that it's still an active investigation and couldn't comment.

According to the documents, Osceola told investigators that she attempted CPR and tried to give him Pedialyte. But 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 a.m., 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. 

According to investigators, Osceola claims to have had 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. She is currently two months pregnant.

Ahizya's biological parents — who are separated — had been investigated for abuse and/or neglect at least four times during the boy's lifetime. But documents from the Department of Children and Families in Florida say that reports of abuse were unsubstantiated in each case. 

Ahizya had been taken from his biological mother, Karen Cypress, after she was found under the influence at a hotel and the boy was left to wander the lobby by himself. Nelson and Analiz were given custody of the boy.

For now, police are planning to interview the couple's 5-year-old son, while he and his sister stay with their aunt.

“Where they found him, how they found him and abdominal trauma, bleeding,” Kenneth Tommie, Ahizya's grandfather, told CBS Miami. "We’re looking for closure. That’s all, and some justice, and it’s a long process."