JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A new report from the Duval County Medical Examiner shows toddler Lonzie Barton had pre-death rib fractures and blunt-force trauma to his ribs and skull near or at his time of death.
The toddler died in July 2015. His mother's boyfriend, Ruben Ebron, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child and other counts and is serving a 20-year sentence as a result. His mother, Lonna Barton, also pleaded guilty to child neglect and lying to police and is serving a five year sentence.
Ebron told police the child drowned in the bathtub while he and Lonna were having sex in another room and doing drugs.
According to the report, eight of Lonzie's ribs were previously fractured and showed signs of healing, which indicates that the ribs had been broken before his time of death.
It also showed that six of his ribs had been broken "perimortem," which means near or at the time of death, but not after. Lonzie's skull also showed two blunt-force trauma fractures.
The report stated that one of the locations of the fractures on Lonzie's ribs is indicative of a direct impact to the upper back.
As this is just an osteological report, there was no soft tissue involved in the autopsy. However, due to the state in which Lonzie was found, there may not have been soft tissue to examine. Within this report, the Medical Examiner stated that the cause and manner of death are still undetermined.