Miami Gardens Man Accused Of Beating Child With Brick, Leaving Her In Recycling Bin
MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) - An 18-year-old man accused of beating a three-year-old girl and leaving her to die in a recycling bin has been arrested.
"Nobody in this world would expect that he would do that, like (he) never show that sign that he would do that," said the uncle of the girl who did not want to give his name.
She was rushed to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood where she underwent surgery. She's listed in critical condition.
The man who reportedly attacked her, Tristin Bernard, was booked into jail overnight.
He appeared in bond court Friday afternoon where a Judge ordered him to have no contact whatsoever with the victim and wear a GPS monitor when released from jail. She also raised his bond to $160,000.
Watch Amber Diaz's report:
The victim's cousin, Dwayne Henry, told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that the suspect was the uncle of the victim and he described what he saw after the child was taken from the recycling bin.
"I saw the little 3 year old girl and she was bleeding. She had brick stones in her head," said Henry. "The fact that this little 3 year old girl could not even talk and was not in his space he was wrong to do these things. She wasn't talking. She was moving her head from right to left and it was bloody. I can't believe such a thing would happen. I mean to put the baby in a blue bin like she is part of recycling."
A Miami Gardens police spokesman said officers were very concerned about the child and worried about her. On Friday afternoon, a Miami Gardens officer arrived at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital where the child was taken in critical condition with severe head trauma. He was bringing some toys to her.
On Thursday night, the child received a visit from Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt.
The incident happened around 5 p.m. Thursday at a family home near NW 27th Circle in Miami Gardens.
The girl's grandmother was babysitting when she lost track of her.
"When she looked back she don't see her. She's like screaming Katura, Katura, Katura, where's Katura, she started checking the room, was checking the room she don't see the other kid," said a family member.
A neighbor who lives a block over said he heard cries outside his home, he told Police he thought at first were coming from a cat and when he went to look, he saw the girl inside a blue bin with the man hitting her in the head with a brick.
"She was in the bin and she was bleeding on the side of her head," said Jose Sotomayor. "Thank God I was able to save her life."
Bernard took off back to his mother's house leaving the girl behind. He was taken into custody. According to the police report, Bernard confessed telling detectives "the victim ran out of the house and almost crossed the street and he stopped, and since she wasn't listening he hit her with the brick."
Another family member said Bernard, has some mental health issues and had been having breakdowns all day and was giving the family some trouble.
Bernard faces several charges including attempted second-degree murder.
