JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As a private search group prepares to conduct another search for Lonzie Barton, the toddler who disappeared three months ago, the man police consider a primary suspect in the boy's disappearance sits in the Duval County jail on charges of child neglect and lying to police.
Saturday will mark 3 months since Ruben Ebron reported 21-month-old Lonzie Barton missing. What happened to the toddler remains a mystery.
News4Jax obtained new evidence in the case against Ruben Ebron, including an interview he had last week with Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives, well after he had invoked his right to an attorney and told police he was not going to talk with them.
Attorney Ed Birk said the latest notice of discovery signals that investigators feel there's still plenty to uncover.
"So it tells us that the prosecutors and the police are continuing their investigation, and they will continue to develop evidence and discovery, until those questions get answered," Birk said.
Birk is not affiliated with the case, but told News4Jax it's clear that the prosecution isn't letting up.
According to the document, he told officers that Lonzie "had injuries to his head and that the child began to eat little or not at all." He added that, "the child had thrush and was bleeding in his mouth. The blood was being deposited in the child's bottle."
Ebron said he and the child's mother, Lonna Barton, agreed that something was wrong with Lonzie, but they didn't seek medical attention.
The latest discovery material released Friday by the State Attorney's Office also includes information Ebron gave to an unnamed media source, where he asserted the child had not been sold.
"I don't know exactly what the importance of that is, other than the plain meaning of that statement, but in terms of what that's going to mean in the case, I'm not sure how that will be interpreted or how that will be used," Birk said.
When Lonna Barton was arrested, her arrest report said she and Ebron had gotten into an argument when she found a bruise on the back of the boy's head. That was the day before Lonzie was reported missing. It came claimed she saw yellow fluid coming from the boy's ears and that he was throwing up and was lethargic.
The release also lists witness and investigator interviews, as well as jail phone calls that are now part of evidence in the case against Ebron.
Birk said there's still a long way to go before jurors will be presented with any of this. Much of what is in the discoveries may never be seen.
"What matters is what the jury hears in court and not all of this discovery will be deemed reliable enough for the jury to see," said Birk.
Birk told News4Jax this probably won't be the last notice of discovery we see from the prosecution.
Prosecutors have filed a motion asking that Ebron and Barton be tried together. The judge has yet to rule on that request