El Cajon
Preliminary findings of the San Diego County coroner’s autopsy Wednesday morning showed that 2 1/2-year-old Sarah Nicole Toussant died as the result of a beating, police announced Wednesday.
Deputy Coroner Charles Kelly described the cause of death as “multiple blunt-force trauma. That means that she was probably beaten by someone.”
The boyfriend of the child’s mother, Matthew Laverne Lesure, 28, was arrested on suspicion of murder Tuesday afternoon by El Cajon police, fewer than 12 hours after the child’s body was found in a Dumpster near her home.
Lt. Robert Lein of the El Cajon Police Department said police are certain that “there was nobody else involved in this murder.”
Lesure, who lived with the child and her mother on West Renette Avenue, said that he took the girl to Renette Park at midday Monday while their nearby apartment was being fumigated, Lein said.
According to Kelly, “there was a lot of bruising.” The coroner had not examined the child for signs of sexual abuse, although he may do so, Kelly said.
The bruises were concentrated in the abdominal area, according to Lein.
Lein said the investigation is continuing, and police are asking anyone who was in Renette Park on Monday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to contact the El Cajon police at 579-3311.
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