Man charged in death claims toddler fell off bed

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

A 26-year-old Dorchester man was ordered held on $1 million cash bail today on a murder charge in the death last month of his girlfriend's 23-month-old son.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive in the killing of Jaziel Angel Ponce, who died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen in a Westwind Road apartment, said David Deakin, a Suffolk assistant district attorney.

Daniel Santana told police that the toddler fell off a bed, Deakin said.

Jaziel's family watched Santana's arraignment, several of them wearing T-shirts with pictures of the dead toddler. They declined comment afterwards.

The state Department of Social Services, which took temporary custody of Jaziel's 8-year-old sister after his death, is also investigating.

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