Trial starts for man charged in toddler's death

Ernest LaFleur Jr. had just a small red mark visible on his forehead when he was carried into Sherman Hospital's emergency room on Dec. 30, 2005, but it was obvious the 2-year-old was seriously hurt.

Limp in his mother's arms, the toddler's eyes didn't react to light and he gasped for air as he was put on a gurney at the Elgin hospital, said Camie Johnson, a nurse who treated Ernest.

"He was unresponsive. He appeared to have trouble breathing," Johnson testified Monday at the start of what is likely will be a week-long trial for Andres Velazquez, who is charged with first-degree murder in Ernest's death.

Ernest died on Jan. 6, 2006, at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where the child was transferred hours after he arrived at Sherman. Doctors say he suffered lethal head injuries and several broken bones.

Velazquez, 29, of the 100 block of Woodland Court in Carpentersville, maintains he did not intend to hurt Ernest, his girlfriend's son, but has acknowledged roughhousing with him in his apartment.

Chanet Robinson, Ernest's mother, testified she'd dated Velazquez about four months. On the day Ernest was hospitalized, she asked her boyfriend to watch her young son and daughter while she worked, she said.

Robinson said she was manning the register at a local Cracker Barrel when Velazquez called and said something had happened to Ernest. He brought the boy to the restaurant, whining and limp in his arms.

"I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't say anything … his eyes wouldn't stay focused," Robinson said, adding Velazquez told her Ernest likely fell off an air mattress in the bedroom or hit his head on a bedside statue of an angel.

Carpentersville police Officer Beth Accomando, a crime scene technician, testified the air mattress found in Velazquez's apartment barely held any air.

"It looks like it's full but when you put any kind of weight on it, it would squish down to the floor," Accomando said.

Until last week, prosecutors had intended to seek the death penalty for Velazquez, in part because of the child's age. They've decided against that but still hope to put Velazquez in prison for the rest of his life.

Velazquez has been jailed on $2 million bond since the day after Ernest died. He has waived his right to a jury trial and Judge Timothy Sheldon will issue a verdict.