Childcare Provider Allegedly Starved Boyfriend’s 7-Year-Old Son to Death: Prosecutors

An Orange County, New York woman allegedly starved her boyfriend’s 7-year-old child to death earlier this year, and could face 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors said. A statement from the district attorney’s office noted that Leticia Bravo, 39, has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the first and second degrees. Bravo, who worked as a childcare provider, allegedly kept the boy, Peter Cuacuas, in a bedroom “behind a door that locked from the outside,” according to a statement. The child is believed to have lived with Bravo six days per week, going to visit his father and Bravo’s boyfriend, Arturo Cuacuas, only on Saturdays. Cuacuas was charged with criminally negligent homicide last week.

In February, the statement said, Bravo brought an unresponsive Peter to a local hospital. He was declared dead shortly after. An official determined the child died due to malnutrition after Peter was found to have weighed only 37 pounds at the time of his death. Bravo had become Peter’s primary caretaker for the school year a few months prior; the district attorney’s statement said that Peter never logged on to virtual classes after January 2021. District Attorney David Hoovler called the case “truly disturbing,” adding: “It is unthinkable that someone would accept the responsibility of caring for a child and then deny that child the basic necessities of life.”