The parents of a 3-week-old baby boy, who authorities determined died of suffocation, staged the newborn’s death after he had been “restrained” and left alone in a bathtub at a South Florida home, according to court filings.
Crystal Garcia and Anfernee Watts were arrested Wednesday, April 10, in connection with their son’s death in Hollywood in August 2025, according to police, WTVJ reported.
Garcia, 21, and Watts, 25, are each charged with aggravated child manslaughter, child neglect involving bodily harm, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, failure to report a death to a medical examiner, and giving false information to law enforcement, court records viewed by Us Weekly show.
A public defender representing Garcia and Watts did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday, April 13.
According to an arrest affidavit viewed by Us, Garcia and Watts’ baby was found “unresponsive” in a playpen at a home in Hollywood on August, 1, 2025.
The newborn was declared dead by first responders who arrived at the residence, the affidavit says.
During an investigation, Garcia and Watts allegedly repeatedly lied about the circumstances of their newborn’s death.
Watts initially told authorities that before their son died, he left the home for a job interview and that Garcia “fed the baby, changed the diaper, cleaned the baby with baby wipes and put powder on him and then placed him into the playpen,” the affidavit says.
Later, following several “differing stories” as to how her son died, Garcia admitted that she staged her baby’s death to make it look like died while sleeping, according to the filing.
She said that on August 1, she put her newborn in the playpen so he could go to sleep while she slept, but her son kept crying despite her attempts to soothe him, the affidavit says.
Garcia then described how she placed her baby in a car seat and put him in a bathtub, where he was left alone, crying, according to the filing.
“She placed the baby’s gray pacifier in his mouth, wrapped him in the blanket tightly, securing the pacifier in his mouth to prevent him from spitting it out, and strapped him into the car seat,” the affidavit says. “She then entered the bathroom and placed the car seat with the baby in it, inside of the bathtub.”
Afterward, Garcia played lullaby music, left the baby in the bathroom and went to her bed, according to the filing.
“Crystal said the music was very loud; she could still hear the baby crying over the music, but very faintly,” the affidavit says.
Then she fell asleep, according to the filing.
Later that morning, she awoke and first spoke to her mother for about 30 minutes before checking on her son, the affidavit says.
When she checked on the infant, Garcia said he was “very pale” and that she “knew it was dead,” according to the affidavit.
“Through Crystal’s sworn admission, corroborated by physical evidence, digital evidence, and witness statements, it was determined that she intentionally restrained the baby,” the filing notes.
Investigators determined Garcia and Watts both staged the crime scene by putting their dead son into a playpen in an effort to “make it appear as though the baby died in his sleep,” the affidavit also says.
They both allegedly admitted to this.
The newborn died as a result of negligence and suffocation, according to the filing.
