Burnsville MN man charged with assaulting a 3-year-old
By Crime Watch MN, Feb 26, 2023
Warning: Child abuse
William Alberto Mendez Cruz (aka Cruz-Mendez), 01/17/1999, of Burnsville, Minn., is charged with two counts of felony third-degree assault involving substantial bodily harm on a 3-year-old child.
Police began investigating after the toddler was brought to an emergency room last month with a six-inch round burn on her back. It was discovered that the child also had bruises on her buttocks and ribcage.
The charging document stated that during a medical examination the child was found to have numerous injuries including:
1) a linear red-brown lesion on right lateral chest wall that appears to be either an abrasion or burn;
2) bilateral bruising on the upper buttocks to lower back, and
3) a large area with peeling skin and blistering on the back consistent with a 2nd degree burn;
4) an erythema on lateral thigh/buttock area that may represent a 1st degree burn; and
5) faint bruising on left upper arm and right upper arm/shoulder.
The mother, XX, told police that she hadn’t noticed any injuries to the child when she bathed her the day prior.
While at work on Monday, Jan. 16, XX told police she received a phone call from her fiancé, Mendez Cruz, who was panicking. Mendez Cruz told XX that the child’s skin came off in the shower. XX went home and brought the child to the hospital with Mendez Cruz.
The charging document said that Mendez Cruz told XX that the other bruising on the child’s back was from her falling while getting out of the shower and the scratch on her side was from Mendez Cruz picking up the child. XX noted that there is a small space heater in the bedroom that may have caused the burn.
Mendez Cruz told investigators that the child had awakened him by tapping his leg after 10 a.m. and saying “ichy oweie.” Mendez Cruz asked the child if she wanted to take a bath and she agreed. While Mendez Cruz was washing the child’s hair, he noticed that the flesh on her back started to peel off. While the child was getting out of the shower, she slipped and fell which caused the bruise on her back, he said. When Mendez Cruz went to pick up the child, he said he accidentally scratched her rib area. Mendez Cruz admitted that he was the only person with the child during the time when she would have sustained her injuries.
XX’s sister told police that the child appeared to be afraid of Mendez Cruz, and she once observed a bruise on the child’s buttocks that looked like a handprint.
AA, who is the mother of XX (the child’s grandmother), was in the residence at the time the child was injured. AA told police she had been in bed when she heard crying but didn’t think anything of it as the child cries all the time.
Officers spoke to another family member who resides in the home, BB, who recalled waking up at approximately 10:30 a.m. to the sound of the child crying louder than usual.
Upon further questioning by police, Mendez Cruz changed his story about the timeline of events when confronted with texts he’d made about the child’s injuries to other family members earlier in the morning. He said the child woke him up after 8 a.m., but he told her to go back to bed after observing the bruises on her neck.
Officers spoke to one of the child’s treating physicians who offered the opinion that the child’s injuries were not consistent with Mendez Cruz’s story and that it is unlikely that a hot shower caused the burns. The physician further noted that the bruising on the child’s buttocks and lower back were not consistent with a slip and fall and that the child’s injuries were concerning for physical abuse.
Mendez Cruz was charged in Dakota County by a complaint warrant on Friday, and he was taken into custody later that day. He is expected to make his first court appearance on the charges early this week. A bail amount is not yet listed.
The prosecutor has also filed a notice of intent to seek aggravated upward sentencing due to the child’s vulnerability, the particular cruelty of the offenses, and Mendez Cruz’s position of authority over the child.
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