A 3-year-old girl was found dead in her Bronx bedroom, parts of her body covered with bruises, police said yesterday.
Stepdad Hilton Acevedo found Cristal Sanchez unconscious Friday in the family’s Longfellow Avenue home near East 167th Street in Foxhurst, according to police sources and relatives.
Acevedo, 31, ran into the hallway yelling for help, they said.
“I heard the man screaming, ‘I can’t wake up my daughter! Oh, my God! Help me!’ ” said neighbor Ana Serrano, 50.
“She was just lying in her bed with her eyes open. It was so sad to see,” she added. “They’re such nice people.”
Neighbor Leandro Gonzalez, 18, said, “The parents were screaming and just in a panic. They thought she was dying.”
Cristal was pronounced dead at Bronx Lebanon Hospital, police sources said, adding that there were multiple bruises on her waist.
The Medical Examiner’s Office withheld results of an autopsy pending further study and said the cause of death had yet to be determined.
Acevedo’s sister, Rosa, 33, said he was devastated.
“My brother is going crazy right now,” she said. “He wants to die.”
She said Cristal had been ill over the last few days, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea.
“She was just a small child starting her life,” she said. “We are all struggling right now.”