EVAN WATKINS - 4 yo/ Accused: Marton Sandor Pal - Lakeland FL

LAKELAND -- A 21-year-old Seminole man was arrested Wednesday and
charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 4-year-old Lakeland boy.
Lakeland police said Marton Sandor Pal told detectives Wednesday he repeatedly punched,
struck and threw Evan Watkins in late September. Evan is the son of
Pal's girlfriend, Susan Soligny of Lakeland. Although Pal lives in
Seminole, he often stays with Soligny and took care of Evan, he told police.
Pal was arrested by the Lakeland Police Department and also is charged with aggravated
child abuse, according to an arrest affidavit.
An Oct. 2 autopsy report ruled Evan's death as a homicide and determined
he died as a result of a lacerated mesentery, which is a tear in the
connective tissue that holds together a person's abdominal organs,
caused by blunt force abdominal trauma. He also had a fractured rib and
about 20 bruises on his head.
The arrest affidavit says Evan died Sept. 30 at 2:50 p.m. at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.
The day before, the child began vomiting around 4:30 a.m. and had scratches
near his eyes, the affidavit said. Evan was dropped off at a day care
center where it was recorded that he had a fever of 100.5.
The boy's biological father, Hayden Watkins, picked up Evan and gave him
medication to reduce his fever, the affidavit said. But by 6 p.m. when
Soligny picked up the boy, his health had continued to decline.
The report says Evan continued to vomit throughout the night and had a low fever.
As Evan's health continued to decline, Soligny called 911 and told a dispatcher that she was taking
her son to the emergency room. The dispatcher told her to pull over at a
convenience store and wait for an ambulance to pick up the boy.
Evan died at the hospital about an hour after arriving, the affidavit said.
A Lakeland Police report says homicide detectives learned Evan's daycare
facility had reported suspicious bruising and scratching on Evan's face
on Sept. 13 to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Soligny had told the workers that Evan had accidentally fallen at Banana Lake Park, the report said.
A Lakeland detective attended a meeting convened by a Child Protection
Team on Sept. 14 where it was determined that no apparent evidence was
available to support a criminal charge at that time, the report said.
On Oct. 5, detectives met with Pal. He told them that in late September he
punched the boy in the stomach because he refused to go to bed, the
affidavit said. Pal knew he had hurt the boy, the affidavit said. He
also admitted to striking the boy in the stomach and head repeatedly
over a period of time. He also acknowledged that the story about the
boy hurting himself at a park was false, the affidavit said.
When asked why he abused the child, he told detectives it was because the
boy's mother would not discipline him nor would she allow Pal to. So
when the two were alone, he would make up for the lack of discipline by
hurting the child, the affidavit said.
On Thursday, Judge Robert Williams Jr. denied bail for Pal, and a public defender was appointed to represent him.
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