2-Year-Old's Violent Death Stuns Family, Neighbors

The Facebook posts of 2-year-old Ananhie Fernandez by her 19-year-old mother, Karina Mora, show a happy family.

It is a starkly different picture than the allegations of the battering and fatal injuries that Largo Police say that Ananhie suffered at the hands of Mora's live-in boyfriend, Joel Cruz.

Cruz has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ananhhie Fernandez. The judge ordered him held in jail without bond, according to WFLA.com.

The child was rushed to All Children's Hospital early Sunday by Mora and Cruz at 3 a.m. Sunday, where investigators say Cruz admitted to slamming the 2-year-old against a chair and wall at the apartment the three shared. She suffered brain damage and chest cavity injuries.

The child's relatives are outraged and grief-stricken. According to WFLA.com:

"We just want justice to be done for what was done to her.  She was sweet as gold, there was nothing a 2-year-old could do to someone to hurt her the way she was hurt," said Alyssa Zeiders, victim's relative.

The child's biological father, Carlos Fernandez, told Bay News 9: 

"Half of me is missing right now. "That's my child. I love her."

The little girl's 3-year-old sister was removed from the home.

Officials are urging people who face family violence to call the CASA hotline: 1-800-500-1119.

Related coverage:

• Battered Toddler Dies of Injuries

Sign up for the free Largo Patch email newsletter to stay connected to your community.