ROCHESTER, New York — A 2-year-old boy is dead. His mother and her boyfriend are in jail. And the police captain who worked the case says what he saw inside that apartment was unlike anything he wanted to describe out loud.
Isaiah Jones was found injured and unresponsive at an apartment complex on Dewey Avenue on May 10. Firefighters and paramedics rushed him to Rochester General Hospital. He never came home. Eight days later, he was gone.
What Doctors Found at the Hospital
Hospital staff were immediately alarmed. Isaiah’s small body showed multiple bruises, bite marks, and other injuries that had no innocent explanation.
The Monroe County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and ruled his death a homicide. The cause was blunt-force trauma to the head — non-accidental, deliberate, and severe enough to cause his brain to bleed.
“These were horrific injuries,” said Rochester Police Captain Frank Umbrino. “These were really, really, really bad.”
A Mother and Her Partner Now Face Murder Charges
India Duncan, 25, and Joshua Velez, 30, both face one count of second-degree murder.
Investigators say the abuse happened over May 8 through May 10 — while Isaiah was in his mother’s care. The couple also allegedly delayed getting the boy medical help.
When detectives sat them down and asked what happened, neither gave a credible answer.
“Their story was crap,” Captain Umbrino said plainly. “They didn’t give us anything truthful.”
A Community Left Grieving
The investigation stretched over several months and involved multiple agencies before U.S. Marshals finally made the arrests this week.
Both Duncan and Velez are being held in Monroe County Jail without bail. They are due in court on August 10.
Monroe County officials acknowledged the public’s pain in a statement, noting that while legal limits restrict what details can be released, the community’s grief is fully shared.
“There is no explanation as to why somebody would do something like this to a child,” Captain Umbrino said. “It’s terrible. It’s heartbreaking.”
Isaiah Jones was two years old.
What do you think justice looks like for a child like Isaiah? Share your thoughts in the comments.