Toddler's death ruled homicide

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 13, 2000

TAMPA -- Autopsy results indicate 18-month-old Rosinda Michelle Fajardo-Cruz was beaten to death, officials said Sunday.

"The cause of death is ruled homicide," said Hillsborough Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Rod Reder. "The Sheriff's Office is still actively seeking her father."

Reder said a medical examiner determined that Rosinda was killed by a "blunt trauma to the upper torso."

Rosinda's father, Pablo Samuel Fajardo, was supposed to be caring for Rosinda and her 3-year-old sister Saturday morning while their mother, Laura Cruz, was at work.

But Cruz returned to the Town 'N Country apartment the family shared and found Rosinda dead.

Fajardo was gone. A judge issued an arrest warrant for Fajardo, 38, alleging child neglect. Sheriff's officials have not been able to locate him.

Fajardo is Hispanic, 5 feet 11 and 175 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He drives a 1995 red Ford Ranger pickup truck with an extended cab and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers license plate in front, deputies said.

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