Worcester man charged with assault after 4-year-old daughter dies

A Worcester man is being held without bail on assault and battery charges after his four-year-old daughter died and his two other children were hospitalized.

Francisco Oritz, 34, is charged with five counts of assault, reckless endangerment and aiding and abetting substantial bodily harm to a child related to injuries suffered by three children in his care, court documents show.

Police responded to Ortiz’s home around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to a report that a child had fallen off a table and was unresponsive, a statement of facts states. According to the report, officers began life-saving measures on the child, who was later taken to the hospital and died.

While staying at Ortiz’s apartment, police said they found two other children who appeared to be malnourished. They also had several bruises on their bodies, police said. Both children are currently being treated for their injuries, the document states.

The dead victim had multiple bruises in “various locations” on her body, police said. Ortiz reportedly told police the child had fallen off the table several times. He told police he was the sole caretaker of all three children.

An autopsy conducted Wednesday found the victim had a skull fracture that was “consistent with a two-story fall and not a fall from a table,” the documents said. The autopsy also found numerous bruises and determined that there had been bleeding from the child’s neck.

According to the filing, prosecutors filed a motion to hold Ortiz without bail because of the dangerous nature of the alleged crime. Judge Maura McCarthy granted the request Thursday, court documents show.

According to the documents, Ortiz pleaded not guilty Thursday. A lawyer for Ortiz declined to comment.