The baby’s death was reported in August, but the homicide finding came months later.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A medical examiner’s ruling that a 3-week-old boy died by suffocation helped turn an August emergency call into an April criminal case against the baby’s parents, Hollywood police said.
The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the baby’s death a homicide in March 2026, about seven months after first responders found him dead in a playpen. Crystal Garcia, 21, and Anfernee Watts, 25, were arrested April 8 on charges that include aggravated manslaughter of a child, child neglect, tampering with evidence and giving false information to law enforcement. Watts also faces an obstruction charge.
Before the medical ruling, the case began as a report of an unresponsive infant at a home in the 6000 block of Thomas Street. Hollywood police and fire rescue crews were called about 1:44 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2025. The baby was found in a small playpen in a private room and pronounced dead at about 1:50 p.m. Officers at the home documented what they saw, and the child’s body was examined by Dr. Erin Ely of the medical examiner’s office. According to case records, Ely noted at the initial examination that the child had begun the process of decomposition. The cause and manner of death were not publicly settled that day.
The first accounts from the parents pointed investigators toward a sleep scene. Watts said he and Garcia fed the baby and changed his diaper before placing him in the playpen wrapped in a blanket. He said he then left about 5:30 a.m. for a job interview in Miami. Garcia told officers she fed the baby, went back to sleep and woke around 10 a.m. She said the child was not making noise, and that she realized something was wrong after opening one of his eyes. “You know when you see someone when they passed, like it was like that,” Garcia told officers, according to the affidavit. She also said she did not call 911 or try CPR right away.
Medical examiners often need more than the first scene report to make a final ruling, and this case unfolded over months. Investigators gathered statements, looked at the home, reviewed surveillance footage and compared the parents’ accounts with physical evidence. Family members told police the baby had been healthy days earlier, including at a July 28, 2025 doctor’s visit. By March 2026, the medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death was suffocation and the manner of death was homicide. That finding became the anchor for charges filed the next month, because it rejected the idea that the child simply died in his sleep as first described to police.
Police said the homicide finding fit a later account Garcia gave about the baby’s last hours. According to the affidavit, Garcia said she placed a gray pacifier in the baby’s mouth, tightly wrapped him in a blanket, secured the pacifier so he could not spit it out, strapped him into a car seat and placed the car seat in a bathtub. Detectives said she played lullabies on an Alexa device, closed the bathroom door and went back to sleep. Police wrote that Garcia heard the baby crying, ignored the distress and failed to check on him for several hours. When she later saw that the baby was unresponsive and appeared dead, investigators said, she did not immediately seek medical help.
The affidavit also described the scene that officers found after the 911 call. Detectives said the infant was face up, with his mouth open and white foam inside. His lips were cracked with dried blood, and he was wearing a soiled diaper. The bathroom smelled strongly of bleach, the window was open and cleaning supplies appeared recently used. A car seat was found next to the playpen. An Amazon Alexa device was found in the bathroom. A disposable changing pad in the playpen appeared to have blood spotting. Investigators did not present those observations as separate causes of death. They used them to describe why the home appeared altered and why they believed the playpen account was false.
What happened after the baby was found became another part of the medical and criminal timeline. Garcia said she did not tell her mother because she did not want to stress her out, even though her mother was in the home. She also acknowledged that she did not call 911 immediately. Police said a Ring camera across the street showed Garcia carrying a large white garbage bag and what appeared to be a mop or broom to a trash bin about 30 minutes before the 911 call. Watts later admitted he disposed of baby bottles and other items, according to investigators. Police said he claimed he had knocked over bleach and cleaned it up while Garcia was making the emergency call.
On Aug. 4, 2025, three days after the death, the case shifted again. Watts’ mother told police that Garcia had admitted lying about what happened, according to the affidavit. The same day, Garcia began repeatedly contacting the Hollywood Police Department to clarify her earlier statements. Police said Garcia left a voicemail saying she had lied and had smothered the baby. Detectives later wrote that both Garcia and Watts admitted they had fabricated a story and placed the child back into the playpen to make it appear he died in his sleep. Those alleged admissions came long before the March medical ruling, but the ruling gave prosecutors a formal homicide finding tied to the death.
The charges now divide the case into two main claims: the fatal neglect and suffocation allegations against Garcia, and the alleged concealment and false-statement conduct involving both parents. Garcia is accused of restraining and isolating the baby in the bathroom before the death. Watts is accused of helping stage the death, lying about his whereabouts, disposing of items and obstructing the investigation. Both face aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect counts, along with charges related to evidence and reporting. The affidavit does not say that Watts was the person who put the baby in the bathtub.
Garcia and Watts were held at the Broward Main Jail without bond after their arrests, according to initial reports from the case. It was not immediately clear when they were scheduled to return to court or whether either had a defense attorney available to comment. Their case is likely to depend on the medical examiner’s ruling, the timing of the 911 call, the surveillance footage, the alleged voicemail and the statements each defendant made to detectives. The charges are allegations, and prosecutors must prove them in court.
The medical finding remains the central public record in the case: suffocation, homicide, after a reported playpen death. The next milestone will come through Broward County court filings as prosecutors and defense attorneys address the evidence gathered between Aug. 1, 2025, and the April 8 arrests.
Author note: Last updated May 4, 2026.