A belt, exercises and witness statements are now part of an Aurora homicide case.
AURORA, Colo. — Police say a 4-year-old boy’s death inside an Aurora apartment followed a discipline plan that included belt strikes, forced exercises and permission from his mother to punish him.
The investigation centers on the evidence gathered after a 10 p.m. emergency call May 16 from the 14100 block of East Tennessee Avenue. Officers found the boy unconscious, not breathing and badly injured. He was taken to a hospital and died. Within hours, police arrested Alexander Martinez-Armstrong, 24, on a first-degree murder charge. Days later, they arrested the boy’s mother, Destini Rose Lipsky, 23, on a charge of child abuse resulting in death.
The first evidence police described publicly was what officers saw when they reached the apartment. Aurora police said the child had significant injuries. Local reports describing the arrest affidavit said the injuries included bruising across the child’s body, with marks in different stages of healing. Investigators noted that some bruises appeared long and narrow, the kind of mark that could be caused by an object such as a belt. Those findings matter because they may allow prosecutors to argue that the fatal incident was not isolated, but part of a pattern of punishment.
The second piece of evidence came from statements inside the apartment. Police said Martinez-Armstrong acknowledged striking the child. Reports citing the affidavit said he admitted hitting the boy at least 21 times with a belt on the day of the fatal injuries. A witness identified in reports as his girlfriend told investigators she heard the boy screaming while Martinez-Armstrong was in another room with him. She said the child was made to practice writing numbers while being struck on bare skin. Those statements give investigators a timeline for the hours before the emergency call and tie the alleged blows to a specific form of discipline.
The third part of the case involves Lipsky’s alleged role. She was not arrested the night the child died. Police continued investigating and announced her arrest May 22. Reports citing court documents said Lipsky told investigators she sent her son to Martinez-Armstrong for “boot camp” after behavior she described as lying, not listening, sneaking into her purse and occasionally taking candy. She allegedly considered Martinez-Armstrong like a brother and allowed him to use physical punishments. Police said Martinez-Armstrong was not the child’s father. Reports identified him as the child’s godfather and as a friend connected to the family.
The phrase “boot camp” appears in the case as a description of the alleged private arrangement, not as a state program or licensed facility. Police records described in news reports say the punishments included whippings, spanking, push-ups, planks and wall-sits. The boy was 4, meaning the alleged routine was imposed on a child still in preschool age. Investigators say the acts that led to the arrangement were minor household behavior, including taking candy and entering a purse. Prosecutors will likely use those details to explain the gap between the conduct cited by adults and the force allegedly used against the child.
The medical evidence remains partly incomplete in the public record. Police said the child died from injuries after being taken to the hospital, but the official cause and manner of death were left to the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office. A coroner’s report can identify the injuries that directly caused death, record older injuries and help establish whether the pattern described by police matches the medical findings. In child death prosecutions, those findings often shape charging decisions, expert testimony and plea discussions. In this case, the early police statements already led to a murder charge against Martinez-Armstrong and a child abuse death charge against Lipsky.
The court process is now where those claims will be tested. Martinez-Armstrong was booked into custody after the child died and was held without bond, according to local reports. Lipsky was arrested in Colorado Springs and held on a $500,000 bond pending transfer to Arapahoe County. It was not immediately clear from public reports whether either had entered a plea. Their cases may move at different speeds because the allegations against them differ. Martinez-Armstrong is accused of inflicting the fatal force. Lipsky is accused of placing the child in danger and allowing discipline that ended in death.
Investigators also have to account for what remains unknown. Police have not publicly released the boy’s name. They have not publicly said exactly how long he was at the apartment, how many adults were present during the full period, or whether anyone outside the home saw injuries before May 16. They have not said whether additional charges are under review. The available record does show that the inquiry expanded after the first arrest. Aurora police described Lipsky’s arrest as the result of a continued investigation into the death, suggesting detectives gathered enough evidence after the initial homicide response to seek a charge against her.
The scene itself was ordinary until the emergency call made it a crime scene. The apartment block along East Tennessee Avenue is part of a dense residential area of Aurora, a city east of Denver with large apartment communities, shopping corridors and busy roads. Police did not describe a public attack or a stranger case. They described a child in the care of adults who knew him. That setting may matter in court because prosecutors often rely on access, control and caretaking responsibility to show who could have caused or allowed injuries to a young child.
As of June 18, the case stood on police statements, reported affidavit details, witness accounts and pending medical findings. The next key steps are expected in Arapahoe County court, where prosecutors will begin turning the investigation into evidence for hearings.
Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.