Police investigating the death of a 2-year-old boy who was found buried in a Stamford park last year have elevated charges filed against his father.
The investigation started on Jan. 2, 2023, when Stamford police received a report of a possible kidnapping and a child who might have been injured.
Authorities learned the child might have been buried in Cummings Park and officers found an area where dirt was disturbed. It was there where they found 2-year-old Liam Rivera in a plastic bag, buried in a shallow grave.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Liam's death was homicide and the cause was blunt force injuries to the head.
Soon after Liam was found, police said his father, Edgar Ismalej-Gomez, of Stamford, was considered a possible person of interest.
He was previously arrested on a violation of probation warrant, and held on charges unrelated to his son’s death. Bond was set at $3 million.
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Police said Wednesday that they found discrepancies in Ismalej-Gomez’s involvement in the events leading up to Liam’s death amid the ongoing investigation and they uncovered evidence about his “potential complicity in actions endangering the child’s welfare in the days prior to his death.”
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Stamford police said they have secured an arrest warrant for Ismalej-Gomez, elevating the charges to include cruelty to persons, hindering prosecution, two counts of tampering with evidence, risk of injury to a minor, criminal violation of a protective order and conspiracy to tamper with physical evidence.
Bond has been set at $1 million for the most recent charges. Police continue to investigate the case.
