Centralia Woman Charged With Assault on Toddler; Doctors Report Abuse Consistent With ‘Torture’

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A Centralia woman was charged with a felony Friday after police responded to reports of serious injuries to a 3-year-old child.

Eloisa Cruz, 32, of Centralia, made her first appearance Friday in Lewis County Superior Court on one count of second-degree assault. She is being held in the Lewis County Jail on $25,000 bail. 

According to court documents, a Centralia police officer responded on Sept. 5 to Providence Centralia Hospital for a report from a paramedic of a 3-year-old child with injuries consistent with abuse. 

The officer arrived and spoke with three paramedics who reported the child had “two black eyes, a burn on his left hand and bruising in various stages of healing,” according to court documents. Paramedics also reported the child said Cruz burned his hand with water. 

The officer visited the boy in the hospital and observed him “whimpering in pain,” according to court documents. The child reportedly confirmed it was Cruz who assaulted him. 

Hospital staff reported the boy had a second-degree burn, according to court documents, and was suffering from bleeding in his brain. He was transferred to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma. 

At Mary Bridge, a doctor concluded the child was likely a victim of “acute and chronic abuse,” according to court documents, and discovered evidence of “beating with objects,” “violent yanking of ears” and cigarette and lighter burns. 

Cruz reportedly told police the boy’s injuries were caused by seizures, but tests were not consistent with the boy having seizures, according to court documents.