ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- Documents filed on Tuesday in the Elkhart Superior Court No. 1 reveal that a 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of a 20-month-old child, that occurred in December 2024.

Authorities say on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, officers with the Elkhart Police Department were dispatched to Elkhart General Hospital regarding a 20-month-old child, identified only as Z.S., with a skull fracture.

Documents state police arrived and spoke with the child's mother and her boyfriend, identified as 21-year-old Miguel Garcia.

Police say the mom and Garcia told them that Z.S. was injured when he slipped and fell on hardwood floors at their apartment on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

Documents state the couple also said the child showed no signs of injury besides crying for 15 minutes and was acting normal until Dec. 16, 2024.

The two said that's when they brought him to the hospital.

Medical staff at the hospital informed police they believed the injuries to be inconsistent with a fall but couldn't prove anything at that time.

Court documents state due to the severe nature Z.S.'s injuries, doctors at the hospital decided to have him taken to Riley's Children Hospital in Indianapolis where they'd be better equipped to handle such injuries.

Documents state on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, a detective with EPD spoke on the phone with a doctor, who's a specialist in child abuse cases, from Riley Children's Hospital.

The doctor told the detective that Z.S. was non-responsive at that time and that he had a fracture to the occipital bone in the skull, bleeding on the brain in the subdural space, clotting in the sinus veins that run from the brain to the heart, possible traumatic brain injury, retinal hemorrhages, and low platelet count.

Documents state that Z.S.'s pupils were non-responsive, he had bruising on the inner right thigh that could be finger or handprints and had an injury to his liver.

The doctor also explained that with all these injuries, the story of slipping and falling on Friday, and not showing any signs of the injuries until Monday is highly unlikely, stating that it is more likely the incident happened on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024.

On Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, police met with the mother and Garcia at Riley Children's Hospital.

During this time, documents state that Garcia informed authorities that after dropping Z.S.'s mom off at work on Dec. 16, 2024, at around 4 p.m., Z.S. was acting normally and that he was the sole caretaker of Z.S., stating he took the child home and there were no visitors to the apartment.

Court documents state at the time of this interview, the pair's cell phones were seized, and shortly after a search warrant was obtained for forensic download of the devices.

Police say while reviewing the devices, it was found that Garcia had a video on his phone that had been taken on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at 4:25 p.m. which shows Z.S. acting normally.

Police say another video from the same day at 5:44 p.m. shows Z.S. lying on the floor, appearing to be unable to lift his head, and making sounds as though he was in pain.

On Dec. 20, 2024, at 2:03 pm. Z.S. died from his injuries.

An autopsy was conducted on Z.S. by Dr. Amanda Paul at the Marion County Coroner's Office on Dec. 24, 2024.

Court documents state the manner of Z.S.'s death was determined to be homicide.

Detectives later spoke with Dr. Paul who informed them the onset on the symptoms associated with Z.S.'s injuries would have been acute from the time they were inflicted by another person.

Dr. Paul described the head injury as "devastating."

She also added that the inflicted injuries were inconsistent with ground level fall.

Garcia was booked on preliminary charges of Murder and Aggravated Battery.

Garcia is currently being held without bond and will have his initial court appearance on Jan. 23, at 8:30 a.m.