Phoenix cops have been working since Saturday to find Juan Garcia -- who's accused of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son late Friday night -- and police say the leads have been scarce as of yet.
"We're going to track him down -- it's just a matter of when," Phoenix Sergeant Trent Crump tells New Times. "We're not going away."
According to court documents, Garcia, 18, picked up 2-year-old Jorge Zamora-Rogel by the neck and slammed him into a wall at his girlfriend's house, before smashing the boy's head into the ground and beating him unconscious. Garcia attempted to wake the boy up, but when he didn't respond, Garcia just left the house. Jorge died after his girlfriend allegedly waited about three hours to call 9-1-1.
Read more about the killing by clicking here.
"When you have an act like this committed against a 2-year-old, there's not too many people that doesn't outrage," Crump says. "Including the people in this department."
Crump says Garcia has ties to southwest Phoenix, and all indications are that Garcia's from the Phoenix area. He has possible ties to Mexico, but there's no reason to believe he's left the Phoenix area, Crump says.
Crump says Garcia has a gang affiliation, and although he has a juvenile record, Crump says there were no violent crimes on his record -- at least in Phoenix.
Regardless of Garcia's prior juvenile troubles, police describe his alleged actions on Friday night as a "violent assault on [the boy] causing severe swelling to [his] head, obvious bruising, bloody froth coming from his mouth, labored breathing with rattling sounds, unconsciousness, and non-responsiveness to pain stimuli for over three hours..."
Police would also like to issue a warning for anyone who might help Garcia avoid the cops.
"Anyone who helps this suspect avoid apprehension in away, they're going to jail with him," Crump says.
If you know where Garcia is, Phoenix police ask that you phone them up at 602-262-6141 or call Silent Witness.
