Death of 4-Year-Old Boy in Abandoned House Was a Homicide: Authorities

CHICAGO, IL — The case of a 4-year-old boy found dead under a smoldering blanket in an abandoned Englewood house in August is being ruled a homicide by authorities Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Cook County medical examiner's office told the Tribune that Manuel Aguilar died from "probable neglect" from unspecified means. Department of Child and Family Services had had run-ins with Manuel's mom over the years, sentencing her to 18 months supervision for endangering the life of a child and even taking the child out of her custody (he was returned in 2015).

Garcia, 27; Christian Carmarena, her 19-year-old friend; and a 17-year-old boy, who the Chicago-Sun Times reported was Garcia's lover, have been charged with concealing the death of a person and residential arson in the case. Garcia and Carmarena are still being held at Cook County Jail; the 17 year old is being charged as a juvenile.

RELATED: Mom Tried to Burn Her 4-Year-Old Son's Body After Year of Tormenting Him: Prosecutors

All three lived together with the 4 year old, who allegedly had been kept in a back room that smelled of urine and was beaten when he screamed to be let out, the Tribune reports. After the boy died, his body — so frail, investigators thought the body was a 9-month-old infant — was allegedly moved from a playroom to the trunk of a car to, finally, the abandoned house days later, the report added.

More via the Chicago Tribune

Alyssa Garcia and Christian Carmarena (photos via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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