US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has blamed a Honduran mother it deported for the death of her two-year-old son in Florida months later, according to a report by The Independent.
The child, Orlín Josué Hernandez Reyes, died in March while in the care of his uncle. Authorities said the boy had multiple broken ribs, burns and signs of sexual abuse. The uncle, Samuel Maldonado Erazo, has been arrested and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
In a statement issued after the arrest, ICE said the child’s mother, Wendy Hernandez Reyes, had “abandoned” her son and “chose to leave her son here with a violent murderer.”
The mother has rejected the claim. “How could I abandon my son, if my son was the love of my life?” she told The Washington Post. “I did everything with my son. I am not a bad mother who left my child with a killer.”
Hernandez Reyes was detained in January after a traffic stop in Alabama and later deported to Honduras.
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She said she repeatedly asked officials to reunite her with her son before being sent back. “I told them to help me with my boy. I needed him,” she said.
During her detention, the child was left with her brother-in-law. According to court records, his own daughter later told investigators that he had a history of violence at home.
In March, the uncle called emergency services, saying the child had collapsed. However, medical officials found injuries that raised suspicion. A medical examiner said such injuries were not consistent with normal childhood accidents.
Community members are now raising funds to return the child’s remains to Honduras. The mother has also said she was deported without her passport, which has delayed the process.
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Advocates say cases like this show the risks faced by children left behind after deportations. “This is the reality of what it’s like for a child to lose their parents,” a local activist said, adding that such children are often left vulnerable.