On December 27, 2022, 19-month-old Izaiah Stuckey was left in the care of his mother's paramour, Abel Marcano, after the mother's original babysitter cancelled. Shortly after the mother left for work, the paramour called to report the child had fallen off the bed and was unresponsive. The child was transported to a hospital in critical condition with severe injuries including low oxygen levels, a brain bleed, hemorrhaging behind his pupils (retinal hemorrhages), a partial spine fracture, and multiple skull fractures. The paramour provided changing and conflicting accounts of how the injuries occurred. After two days on life support with no brain activity, Izaiah was pronounced deceased on December 29, 2022 at Arnold Palmer Medical Center. The mother and paramour had been dating for only two months, and the mother and child had moved into the paramour's home just two days prior to the incident. The paramour was subsequently arrested.
Contexts/Conditions
Is there any mention of child drug ingestion or overdose?
Is there any mention of a drowning incident (either intentional or accidental)?
Is there any mention of a firearm incident?
Is there any mention of inappropriate supervision (e.g., child wandered off and drowned)?
Is there any mention of inflicted injury? (e.g. slapped, punched, kicked, choked)
The fatality report describes injuries that are inconsistent with the claimed mechanism of a bed fall: "low oxygen levels, a brain bleed, hemorrhaging behind his pupils, partial spine fracture and multiple skull fractures." It further states "The paramour provided changing and conflicting accounts as to how the toddler sustained the injuries." Additionally, garbled portions of the document, when decoded using a consistent substitution cipher, yield the phrase "accidental trauma inflicted by the mother's paramour" and "multiple histories offered by the mother's paramour," strongly indicating the injuries were inflicted.
Is there any mention of malnutrition, starvation, or dehydration?
Is there any mention of medical neglect?
Is there any mention of a motor vehicle crash or incident?
Is there any mention of a murder-suicide incident?
Is there any mention of outdoor elements (including hot car deaths)?
Is there any mention of prenatal substance exposure (including fetal alcohol syndrome or neonatal abstinence syndrome)?
Is there any mention of sexual abuse?
Is there any specific mention of shaken baby or abusive head trauma?
The fatality report describes the child having "a brain bleed, hemorrhaging behind his pupils, partial spine fracture and multiple skull fractures." The combination of intracranial hemorrhage, retinal hemorrhages (hemorrhaging behind pupils), and skull fractures is the classic triad associated with abusive head trauma. The garbled text, when decoded, references "severe intracerebral injury secondary to non[accidental]" trauma, further supporting this conclusion.
Is there any mention of prolonged abuse or torture (including restraints, captivity)?
Is there any mention of an unsafe sleeping environment?
Individuals Involved
Was an adoptive parent or guardian involved in the death?
Was a biological father involved in the death?
Was a biological mother involved in the death?
Was a day care worker, babysitter, or nanny involved in the death?
Was a female paramour or friend involved in the death (e.g., girlfriend, stepmother)?
Was a foster parent involved in the death?
Was a male paramour or friend involved in the death (e.g., boyfriend, stepfather)?
The fatality report explicitly identifies Abel Marcano as the "Mother's Paramour" who was caring for the child at the time of the incident. It states: "she asked her paramour to watch the toddler. The paramour agreed to care for the toddler" and "The paramour provided changing and conflicting accounts as to how the toddler sustained the injuries." The decoded garbled text further indicates "The mother's paramour was arrested for aggravated" charges and that injuries were "inflicted by the mother's paramour."
Was another adult relative involved in the death? (e.g., grandfather, aunt)
Was a sibling involved in the death?
Child Characteristics
Was the child adopted?
Was the child homeschooled (including "cyberschooling") or taken out of school?
Was the child in foster care at the time of the incident?
Was the child living with relatives at the time of the incident (but not parents)?
Is there any mention of a neurological developmental child disability? (e.g., autism, intellectual disability, nonverbal)
Is there any mention of a physical child disability? (e.g., feeding tube)
Is there any mention of prematurity or low birthweight?
Is there a history of child protection reports prior to death (for this child or siblings)?
Does the child have a history of foster care (but not in care at time of incident)?
Is there a history of a sibling death (separate incident from this death)?
Parent/Caregiver Factors
Was an adult charged or arrested for the child's death?
A garbled section of the fatality report, when decoded using the substitution cipher consistent throughout the document (where +=m, ==o, <=t, B=h, "=e, -=r, .=', /=s, M=p, &=a, J=u, T=w, K=f, U=g, P=v, #=d), reads: "The mother's paramour was arrested for aggravated" followed by a charge type that is not fully decodable. The encoded text "NB"+=<B"-./M&-&+=J-T&/&--"/<"#K=-&UU-&P&<"#" clearly yields "The mother's paramour was arrested for aggravated."
Is domestic violence by the parent/caregiver referenced?
Is there any mention that the death occurred in a temporary shelter or while homeless?
Is an intellectual disability of the parent/caregiver referenced?
Is the mental health of the parent/caregiver referenced?
Is a history of arrests or criminal charges for the parent/caregiver referenced?
Is substance use by the parent/caregiver referenced?
Notable Details
The fatality report provides several notable contextual details: The mother and paramour had only been dating for two months prior to the incident, and the mother and toddler had moved into the paramour's home just "two days prior to the incident." Additionally, the mother's "original babysitter cancelled on her and so she asked her paramour to watch the toddler," meaning the paramour was a last-minute substitute caregiver. The paramour also had his own two biological children (ages six months and two years) present in his care at the time. These details about the extremely short relationship timeline, recent cohabitation, and last-minute caregiving arrangement are significant contextual factors that contributed to the child ending up in the care of an individual who caused his death.
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