EL MIRAGE, AZ — A week after a one-year-old boy was pulled from an El Mirage bathtub family members announced baby Lorenzo has died.
"We sat on the porch, and I had my coffee and he ate a pop tart from like 5:00 to 6:30, 7:00, in the morning we just sat together,” says Juliet Grosskopf.
A perfect start for little Lorenzo’s first birthday. It was important for his mother, Juliet, to make him feel celebrated and cherished.
"Put a sheet on the wall and just did little happy birthday balloons and a little cake and just we did photos,” Grosskopf says.
But as a single mother of three, Juliet had to go into work Thursday evening, leaving Lorenzo and his two brothers with their babysitter: 49-year-old, Cynthia Gaddy. Hours later, she heard from Gaddy.
"It was from my children's babysitter and all she said was, ‘Juliet. Can you hear me?’ I said, ‘Yes’. She said, ‘Come here. Now. Get here now’. And I did,” says Grosskopf.
She arrived at Gaddy’s home, greeted by several police officers who told her, her now one-year-old son was pulled unresponsive from the bathtub and being life-flighted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
"I fell to my knees. As a mother that's your worst nightmare. And I'm living it, I'm now living it,” Grosskopf says.
El Mirage Police arrested Gaddy. They say she was bathing Lorenzo when her attention was diverted and went to another part of the home. Juliet tells ABC15 Lorenzo’s brain was without oxygen for 30 minutes.
"He had a full brain stroke and from that comes seizures and they're very hard to stop,” Grosskopf continues. “And now he's fighting for his life with a breathing tube and it’s not looking very good. It's the worst feeling you could ever have. All you want to do is pick him up and hug him and I can’t."
On June 24th, the worst news had come. Lorenzo's dad Isaiah posted to social media that he had died from his injuries.
For Gaddy, it isn't her first run in with the law. In 2007, she pleaded guilty to a Child Neglect charge.
Court documents say a child showed up outside a police department without food, shoes or socks, sleeping in a park after he was kicked out of the home.
For Lornezo’s case, Gaddy is scheduled to make her first court appearance Friday evening. She faces two Child Endangerment charges.
"Just keep us in your prayers that needs support that we can get. We need it,” Grosskopf says.
If you feel called to help Baby Lorenzo, we’ve attached a link to their online fundraiser a GoFundMe has been set up to support the family.
