Father Charged In Boy's Slashed-Throat Death
(CBS/WBBM Newsradio) -- A 37-year-old Chicago man has been charged with the gruesome murder of his 2-year-old son in the Little Village neighborhood.
Rolando Ortiz of the 2700 block of South Avers faces one felony count of first-degree murder. He allegedly slashed at the neck of his son, Mateo Garcia Aguayo, Wednesday afternoon at the family's apartment on the Southwest Side.
Authorities said Ortiz cut the child, nearly severing his head, because the energetic toddler had prevented him from getting to sleep. When the father realized what he had done, police say, he tried to slit his own wrists before fleeing.
"Mateo wasn't old enough to make a bad decision," Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said at a news conference. "Mateo wasn't old enough to take the wrong path in life. He was just an innocent kid whose trust and safety was betrayed by the one man that he should never have to question."
The father allegedly told family members about killing the boy, whose body was found in a garbage bag.
Illinois State Police intercepted the man in Kankakee County, where he was taken into custody. The suspect allegedly confessed to police and said he had been heading to Mexico.
Ortiz was scheduled to be in bond court Friday.
