De Jesus then allegedly said he decided to teach the child how to box, and, police said, he struck the child 15 times, causing the child to hit the wall and fall to the floor. The toddler then started to have seizures.
Police said De Jesus failed to call 911 for half hour and placed the child in bed, and the child turned blue. That is when he decided to call 911. The boy's mother was working at the time.
The incident occurred around midnight inside Apartment 7, on the second floor of 316 SW 4th Ave. According to sources, Brown suffered serious head injuries and has no brain activity. Rescue crews had to airlift the boy to Miami Children's Hospital.
A Homestead man who allegedly beat his two year son to death is charged with second degree murder.
Lee Willie DeJesus, 23, reportedly admitted during questioning that the injuries the child sustained were the result of a "boxing lesson." DeJesus allegedly put on 16 oz. boxing gloves and punched the child fifteen times in the face, head, torso and shoulders.
Police said the boxing lasted about 15 minutes and DeJesus reportedly told detectives the child hit his head on the bedroom wall and the tile floor after he was knocked off the bed where the two were boxing.
DeJesus allegedly saw the child become unresponsive and saw the child might be having a seizure. Police said DeJesus did not call for medical help right away. Instead, police said, DeJesus waited between 30 minutes to 1 hour and only called 911 after the child's lips turned blue.
DeJesus's mother, Maria, didn't know all the circumstance but called the news, "a nightmare." Family members say the child's mother is two months pregnant.
DCF says they have investigated the family in the past, but nothing this serious.
Reports from police and state welfare workers show that 2-year-old Willie Brown lived a tumultuous family life marked by domestic strife involving his parents.
Miami-Dade Police say his father, Lee Willie DeJesus, 23, beat him to death inside his Homestead apartment last week.
Prosecutors charged DeJesus with second-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. The State Attorney's Office plans to seek a grand jury indictment for first-degree murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Newly obtained records show:
• The toddler's mother, Zipporah Brown, called 911 when Willie was whisked away by DeJesus' relatives -- as the mother tried fistfighting some of them.
• The baby's maternal grandparents called police when DeJesus refused to give them the child after their daughter was arrested in Key West on shoplifting charges.
• State welfare workers were notified when a complaint surfaced that Brown's utilities had been shut off.
The Florida Department of Children & Families investigated each incident but determined that there was nothing serious enough to merit removing Willie.
``We do have a history with this family, but there was no major concerns and at the time we were involved with them, there was no need to remove him,'' said DCF spokeswoman Lissette Valdes-Valle.
DCF won't release its internal reports into the handling of Willie's family cases because the agency has not yet determined whether the baby died because of abuse -- which would allow administrators to release confidential records.
Miami-Dade prosecutors on Monday charged DeJesus with second-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. The State Attorney's Office plans to seek a grand jury indictment for first-degree murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
DeJesus told Miami-Dade police that he was showing his son how to box inside his Homestead apartment when he hit him with a flurry of punches. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death came from ``blunt force trauma.''
At first, DeJesus tried to blame a baby sitter, according to an arrest report.
In recent years, DeJesus had been arrested for armed robbery and armed burglary; both times, the charges were dropped. He has a misdemeanor conviction for marijuana possession.
The boy's maternal grandmother, Willie Bee Brown, said she had long suspected DeJesus had been abusing the boy but had no proof other than having seen some ``scratches and welts.''
``I asked if he's been abusing the baby and he said no. He lied to me,'' Willie Bee Brown said Wednesday.
The families have sparred before.
In November 2008, the baby's mother, Zipporah Brown, called Homestead Police to complain about DeJesus' family, who had been squabbling with her, according to an incident report.
She told police that she had gone to his house and challenged a relative to a fight, handing the then-5-month-old baby to another of DeJesus' family members. When the family refused to give the baby back, Brown called Homestead Police.
When Officer Maykel Acosta arrived, DeJesus walked out and handed the uninjured baby to Brown, who declined to press charges.
Acosta sent a copy of his report to DCF for a follow-up.
By March, Zipporah Brown was back living with DeJesus when she was arrested in Key West for shoplifting. When her parents went to get the child from DeJesus' house, he refused, Willie Bee Brown said.
Again, they complained to Homestead Police Department. Officers knocked on his apartment door to check on the child.
``He advised that the child was inside sleeping and became very defensive,'' Officer Brian Kennedy wrote. ``He had to be told to calm down several times as he became verbally disruptive and non-compliant.''
About 30 minutes later, they were returned and DeJesus allowed an officer to view the child, ``who was sleeping at the time and was in good condition.''
The report was forwarded to DCF.
In May, DCF received a report that ``the mother's utilities have been turned off. The mother has been reluctant to seek medical attention for the child in the past.''