Police: Man threw toddler from Kissimmee balcony

Juan Pablo Maradiaga faces attempted murder charge

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – A 41-year-old man faces attempted murder charges after, according to Kissimmee police, he threw a 2-year-old boy from a second-story motel balcony before jumping himself.

Juan Pablo Maradiaga and the boy were listed in critical but stable condition on Tuesday, hours after the incident, which occurred around 12:30 a.m. at the Budget Inn on East Vine Street in Kissimmee, police said.

According to Kissimmee police, officers were called to the motel and found a man, later identified as Maradiaga, and child lying in the parking lot. 

Police said an investigation showed that Maradiaga intentionally threw the toddler over the balcony.  Maradiaga then jumped over the balcony, police said.

The child's mother told police she normally takes the child to a babysitter but Maradiaga had asked to spend time with him so she allowed him to babysit.

She said she later got a call at work from Maradiaga telling her he was frustrated and she needed to come and get the child but she told him she could not leave work. Police said 30 minutes later Maradiaga tossed the child over the balcony.

"Why, why, did he do this? He loved his son I know he did," said Rosa Fabian-Lizardo, the mother of the child, who returned to the motel.

Both were airlifted to a hospital for treatment.  The toddler suffered multiple injuries, including several fractures, and remains at Arnold Palmer in Orlando, officials said.

Once discharged from the hospital, Maradiaga will be taken to jail, police said.

The Department of Children and Families will also conduct an investigation, and officials said early information suggests that the agency had not had prior contact with the child.

Court records show the couple's problems started before the child was born. Maradiaga was arrested in 2010 for attempted aggravated domestic battery.  According to the 2010 arrest report, Maradiaga  "broke the door down and began to argue" at their home while she was pregnant with his child.

A witness in the report states he "would have struck her in the face," but missed and hit her friend.

Fabian-Lizardo told police in 2010 she thought she would have a miscarriage because of the stress but refused to press charges. 

It's not clear if she will press charges in Tuesday's incident.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," she said when WKMG-TV asked.