Police in Orlando have arrested a second person in the “torture case” death of 2-year-old boy found dead last month.
Johnathan Pursglove, 25, has been arrested on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, the Orlando Police Department said.
Jayce Martin was found dead at a home on Bethune Drive, just west of South John Young Parkway on July 18.
Jayce’s mother, Victoria Toth, 24, was arrested on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child earlier this month.
According to Toth’s arrest affidavit, a physician said “Jayce suffered unnecessarily and that this could be considered a ‘torture’ case due to the child being severely neglected.”
A medical examiner determined Jayce died of blunt force trauma to his abdomen and developed peritonitis, which is caused by a leak or hole in the intestines.
The examiner said the force to his abdomen caused his gastrointestinal tract to perforate, causing the infection that led to his death.
Detectives said doctors found the injury that led to Jayce’s death was like a “sucker punch” so severe “it had to have been caused by someone with a large enough size to generate such force.”
According to the examiner, his injuries happened within three days of his death, and he could have fully recovered if he had been brought to a medical professional.
A physician told authorities he believed caregivers would have known Jayce was not well given his injuries, and was the victim of abuse.
