The home showed signs of cleaning before officers found the baby dead, police say.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — The smell of bleach, missing baby items and surveillance footage outside a Thomas Street home became key parts of a Florida investigation that led to manslaughter charges against the parents of a 3-week-old boy.
The child was first reported as an unresponsive infant in a playpen on Aug. 1, 2025. Months later, Hollywood police said the scene had been staged after the baby was suffocated. Crystal Garcia, 21, and Anfernee Watts, 25, were arrested April 8 and charged in Broward County after investigators said they lied about the morning, delayed calling for help and tried to make the death appear to be sleep-related.
Police said the home in the 6000 block of Thomas Street did not look like a simple medical call when officers and fire rescue crews arrived at about 1:44 p.m. The infant was in a private room, inside a small playpen, and was pronounced dead about six minutes later. Detectives reported seeing white foam in the child’s open mouth, cracked lips with dried blood and a soiled diaper. In the bathroom, they noted an open window and cleaning supplies that appeared recently used. A mop, broom, wipes and a container with a cleaning agent were found nearby. The affidavit said the bathroom had a strong smell of bleach, a detail that later stood beside video and statements as investigators built their case.
The first version police heard placed the baby in the playpen after an early feeding. Watts said he left about 5:30 a.m. for a job interview in Miami after he and Garcia fed the baby and changed his diaper. Garcia told officers she fed the child, went back to sleep and woke around 10 a.m. She said she later noticed he was quiet and opened one of his eyes. Garcia said she did not call 911, did not try CPR and did not tell her mother because she did not want to stress her out. That account left several hours between the time she said she noticed something was wrong and the time emergency crews were called.
Detectives said the job interview account did not hold up. Investigators determined the interview did not take place and that the cellphone the couple shared stayed inside the home instead of traveling with Watts. They also learned that a camera across the street captured Garcia outside about 30 minutes before the 911 call. Police said the footage showed her carrying a large white garbage bag and what appeared to be a mop or broom, then putting the items into a trash bin. Watts later admitted he threw away baby bottles and other items from the home, police said. He also told investigators he knocked over a jar of bleach and cleaned it with wipes while Garcia was calling 911.
The bathroom became more important as Garcia’s account changed, according to police. Detectives said a car seat was found next to the playpen and an Amazon Alexa device was found inside the bathroom. Garcia later said she placed a gray pacifier in the baby’s mouth, wrapped him tightly in a blanket, secured the pacifier, strapped him into the car seat and put the car seat in the bathtub. Police said she then played lullabies on the Alexa device, closed the bathroom door and went back to sleep. The affidavit says Garcia heard the baby cry and did not check on him for several hours. Investigators said the loud music and closed door were part of the evidence showing the child had been isolated before he died.
Police said the couple’s actions after the baby was found were not limited to silence. The affidavit says Garcia and Watts later admitted they fabricated a story for officers and placed the child back into the playpen to make it look as though he died in his sleep. “My investigation into this incident revealed that Crystal Garcia and Anfernee Watts provided multiple false and inconsistent statements to law enforcement in an attempt to conceal the true circumstances,” a detective wrote. Police also said Garcia left a voicemail for the department saying she had lied and had smothered the baby. That statement, combined with the physical evidence, became a major part of the charging decision.
Medical findings added another layer months after the first response. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office determined in March 2026 that the baby’s cause of death was suffocation and that the manner of death was homicide. Family members told investigators the child had been healthy days before his death, including during a July 28, 2025 doctor’s visit. At the time of the initial examination, Dr. Erin Ely with the medical examiner’s office noted the baby had begun the process of decomposition, according to case records. Police have not publicly identified a single piece of evidence as the entire basis for the homicide finding. Instead, the affidavit lays out a sequence of medical conclusions, scene observations, video, discarded items and changing statements.
Garcia faces charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, child neglect, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, failure to report a death and providing false information to law enforcement. Watts is charged with the same offenses and also faces a count of obstructing a criminal investigation. Investigators described Watts as a participant in the alleged coverup, saying he gave a false job interview story, disposed of items and helped present the playpen account. The charges do not say he placed the baby in the bathtub. They accuse him of taking part in concealment after the child was dead or dying.
The case drew attention because of the gap between the death and the arrests. The baby died Aug. 1, 2025, the homicide ruling came in March 2026 and the parents were arrested April 8, 2026. That timeline shows how the investigation depended on both forensic review and follow-up interviews instead of an immediate arrest at the home. Police said Garcia’s later contacts with the department began Aug. 4, three days after the death, when she tried to clarify information she had given officers. Watts’ mother also told police that Garcia had admitted lying about the events, according to the affidavit.
Garcia and Watts were reported held without bond at the Broward Main Jail after judges found probable cause for the charges. A next court date was not immediately clear in initial reports. The criminal case is expected to move through filings that will test the statements, video, physical evidence and medical examiner’s findings. The allegations remain unproven unless prosecutors prove them in court.
The home that police described as recently cleaned is now part of a broader homicide case built from small details: a shared phone, a camera across the street, cleaning supplies near a bathroom and a baby found in a playpen. Garcia and Watts remained in custody as the case awaited its next court step.
Author note: Last updated May 4, 2026.