Father Tells Police He Drowned Son

A 35-year-old Fullerton man was in custody Monday on suspicion of drowning his 4-year-old son, after walking into the police station late Sunday and confessing, authorities said.

Gideon Walter Omondi, who had emigrated from Kenya with his wife, is being held at the Orange County Jail on $1-million bail. The boy’s body was discovered tucked into the father’s bed, authorities said. The child, Richard Omondi, was pronounced dead at Placentia-Linda Hospital.

The Orange County coroner’s office hasn’t established a cause of death, but Fullerton Police Lt. John Petropulous said evidence so far indicated that “it happened as [the father] says it did.”

Omondi, who worked as a security guard and was studying mechanical engineering at Cal State Fullerton, filed for divorce in March 2005, after years of what his estranged wife, Hellen Omondi, described to friends as an abusive relationship.

Gideon Omondi cited irreconcilable differences in petitioning for the divorce, which has not yet been granted.

According to court documents, the child lived with his mother and spent every other weekend with his father at the Tribeca Apartments in Fullerton.

Omondi’s “whole goal was to make her miserable,” said Lescia Myers, the boy’s baby-sitter and former neighbor.

“He put her through hell. This was the ultimate way to make her suffer.”

Petropulous said police “had prior contact with the family on domestic issues,” such as family disturbances, but he would not be more specific.

Myers said the county’s Child Protective Services office had interviewed the mother concerning allegations made by preschool officials that the father had the boy sleep in a car and that he was not fed and clothed properly.

Child Protective Services, part of the Orange County Child and Family Services, had interviewed the mother, Myers said.

Ray Gallagher, deputy director of Orange County Child and Family Services, said, “I can’t confirm that the family has received services from us. Any time we get a report of child abuse, we have emergency response workers go out and investigate the report.”

Myers said she met the couple two years ago. They had moved into her small, aging apartment complex in Fullerton on Highland Avenue.

He was warm to her and neighbors at the complex. Neighbors at the Tribeca Apartments echoed those observations.

“He was a friendly neighbor. He even helped people carry their groceries from the car,” said Kris Koenig, 27, who lived below Omondi and his brother.

On weekends, Koenig would see the boy -- and his toys: His Legos and cars would often tumble into her patio.

“The father seemed amused by it, not annoyed. And he was very polite to ask for them back,” Koenig said.

On Highland Avenue, Myers’ son, Camron, and Richard became friends.

The parents exchanged baby-sitting duties. Myers, a single mother and nurse, admired the hard-working immigrants, she said.

After the couple separated, Hellen Omondi found work, got around by bus and got an apartment, where the child spent most of his time.

Early Monday morning, Hellen Omondi sat with Fullerton police while friends sought to raise money for her son’s funeral.

Myers said her friend wept and asked God why he had not protected her son: “I’m never going to see my baby again.”

*

jennifer.delson@latimes.com

hgreza@latimes.com

Staff writers Mai Tran and Garrett Therolf contributed to this report.