LAKELAND, Fla.,None — An autopsy has determined that a 1-year-old Florida boy police say was killed by his mother drowned and suffered blunt force trauma.
The medical examiner determined Saturday that Ishan Patel drowned and was the victim of a homicide. The autopsy also found the boy had blunt force trauma to his face.
The boy's 32-year-old mother faces a charge of first-degree murder. Neha Patel made her first appearance in a Polk County court on Sunday and was appointed a public defender.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has said Patel suffers from postpartum depression, but had not been taking her medicine when she disappeared Thursday with her son. Authorities said Patel returned to her Lakeland home Friday and told her husband she had killed the boy.
Investigators said Patel admitted she killed her 1-year-old son by slapping him, and leaving him in a bath tub full of water, where he drowned.
Patel was also denied bond Saturday, prior to her transfer from Hillsborough County.
WFTV
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