Caretaker Held in Death of Boy : Crime: Caroline Robles Amaya is accused of beating her 2-year-old cousin to death. The toddler was placed in her home to escape alleged abuse by his mother.

A toddler who was allegedly beaten to death by his caretaker in West Covina had been moved to the home along with his sister just three weeks earlier when his own mother was suspected of abusing the two children, authorities said Monday.

Police in West Covina arrested Caroline Robles Amaya on Sunday on suspicion of murder after an autopsy revealed that her 2-year-old cousin, Joseph Partida, died of massive head injuries and not a bathtub drowning, as the woman had reported to authorities Thursday.

Amaya, 34, was being held without bail pending arraignment today in Citrus Municipal Court.

The arrest stunned an apartment building full of neighbors who knew Amaya as a devoted mother who, just over the weekend, held a carwash to raise $140 for the burial.

Acquaintances at the Pacific Isle apartments, where Amaya moved in earlier this year, were adamant in their conviction contention that she did not kill the boy. “If she did, it would be the ninth wonder of the world,” said Paul Simon, whose wife managed the building.

Police said that while it was disturbing that Joseph had died in a home where he had been sent to escape child abuse, they were not prepared to criticize county officials who placed the boy there.

“It would be easy to throw stones at this point,” said Lt. Darrell Myrick. “But it’s hard to say what is best [for children] in many cases. You’ve got all these kids and you have got to put them someplace. It’s not easy to decide what to do.”

Officials in the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services acknowledged that the boy was one of the 60,000 under their supervision, but cited state confidentiality laws in declining to discuss the case.

Myrick said the boy and his sister, 11 months, had been taken from their mother’s La Puente home three weeks ago, after allegations of abuse. Amaya , a welfare mother with four children of her own, took them in. the two children.

More than half of the children placed by the county outside of their parents’ homes live with relatives. Before children are moved, the county typically subjects checks all adults in a foster home for to criminal records. checks. It also inspects homes for safety and suitability.

When authorities arrived at Amaya’s apartment Thursday, she appeared “very distraught,” . . . typical for an adult who had a child die,” said Myrick.

But investigators quickly became suspicious. “A child of that age can usually prevent himself from drowning in a bathtub,” Myrick said. Once paramedics gave up efforts to revive the child, who would have turned 3 in October, detectives noticed several bumps and bruises.

Still, the bruising on Joseph’s head, face, back, abdomen, legs and feet was not definitive. It took an autopsy, conducted Sunday, to confirm severe head trauma, including a fracture at the base of the skull, authorities said.