Parents plead guilty in connection to death of toddler son buried at Stamford park
On Jan. 2, 2023, police discovered 2-year-old Liam Rivera in a shallow grave at Cummings Park.
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Nearly three years after a Stamford toddler’s body was found buried at a local Park, the child’s parents pleaded guilty to all the charges against them in connection to his death. On Tuesday, Iris Rivera-Santos and Edgar Ismalej-Gomez appeared in Stamford Superior Court where they both accepted court-offered deals with sentences of 16 years in prison.
Though the hearing marked the start of the case’s conclusion, it is still unclear who killed 2-year-old Liam Rivera. On Jan. 2, 2023, police discovered Liam in a shallow grave at Cummings Park. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the child’s head. Police also said there were several bruises on Liam’s body.
Both Ismalej-Gomez and Rivera-Santos were arrested on allegations they abused the child, buried him and tried to cover up the crime. But neither was ever charged with the homicide despite both being suspects.
At first, police named Ismalej-Gomez the prime suspect after Rivera-Santos pointed the finger at him and claimed he held her captive. But police said nothing about her initial story proved true. They also learned DCF had been involved with Rivera-Santos throughout Liam's short life.
“Reports from DCF indicated that under her care, the child was malnourished, underweight, low body mass index, height deficient. They also noted that she was not taking him to a number of doctor appointments as needed,” Ferencek stated as he went through the facts of the case.
Rivera-Santos pleaded guilty to two counts of risk of injury to a minor and two counts of tampering with evidence along with charges of cruelty to persons, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, unlawful removal of a dead body and false reporting of an incident.
Ismalej-Gomez, who has his son’s name tattooed on his neck, entered guilty pleas on charges of risk of injury to a minor, cruelty to persons, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, unlawful removal of a dead body, hindering prosecution, violation of a protective order and violation of probation.
Rivera-Santos' attorney had no comment after court. But Dominick Angotta told News 12, "Edgar adamantly maintains that he had nothing to do with the child's death. Obviously, he made some horrible choices and for that, he has today accepted full responsibility."
Both defendants are due to be sentenced on Feb. 10. They've both been in custody since their arrests in January and February of 2023.
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