Abuse suspected in toddler’s death
Police find ‘hoarder’ conditions at the home. Grandfather and mom are arrested.
A mother and grandfather were arrested after an investigation revealed evidence that abuse and neglect led to the death of a 2year-old girl, police said.
Cheyenne Cobb, 20, and Jon Palechek, 47, were arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse causing death, Fontana police said in a statement. Cobb is the child’s mother, and Palechek is Cobb’s stepfather.
The child possibly died of a strangulation-type injury, due to the way she was confined in her bedding area, said Fontana Police Sgt. Kevin Goltara.
On Monday at 9:14 p.m., Fontana police and San Bernardino County paramedics responded to a call for medical aid for a 2-year-old not breathing, police said.
The child was declared dead at the scene.
“The upkeep of the house and the condition that the child was kept in was obviously not satisfactory,” Goltara said. “Part of that, we believe, led to the death of the child.”
Police described the house as a “hoarder-like house.”
Goltara said he could not provide any more details on the condition of the child or the home. He said it did not appear that there had been calls to the residence before.
“I don’t see any calls for any type of child abuse or anything at the residence in the past,” Goltara said.
The child’s great-grandmother was also in the home and is a dependent adult, Goltara said. Relatives were called to take her from the residence, he said.
Cobb and Palechek were booked into West Valley Detention Center.