‘He just turned over’: Father left 7-month-old to drown in bathtub while talking on the phone, police say

Angel Marcus Rodriguez appears inset against an image of the residence where his son drowned in 2024.

Inset: Angel Marcus Rodriguez (East Haven Police Department). Background: The residence where his son drowned in October 2024 (Google Maps).

A Connecticut man is behind bars following the drowning death of his 7-month-old baby boy last fall, authorities say.

Angel Marcus Rodriguez, 29, stands accused of one count of manslaughter in the second degree as well as two counts each of risk of injury to a minor and two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, according to the East Haven Police Department.

Those charges stem from Angel Josiah Rodriguez’s death — and the alleged harm that could have befallen the boy’s 3-year-old brother.

The incident occurred late in the evening on Oct. 6, 2024, at a house on Redfield Avenue in East Haven — a medium-sized town located a few miles east of New Haven and part of the broader metro area.

Police say the father admittedly left his two children alone in the bathtub while he went to use another bathroom in the residence because the toilet in the children’s bathroom did not flush adequately, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the New Haven Register. Rodriguez did not initially recall how long he was gone, police allege. Later, the defendant allegedly told investigators he was gone for maybe five minutes while the children bathed alone.

The little boy was found by his grandmother, facedown in the tub, while his older brother was playing with toy cars right beside him.

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“He just turned over,” the older boy allegedly told his grandmother when she walked in, according to law enforcement.

At such a young age, the baby could not sit up by himself. Family members said he was propped up in an Angelcare brand “Back Support” bathing chair, which the company describes as “ideal for newborn babies up to six months or 9 kg/20 lbs.,” according to the warrant.

The grandmother allegedly told investigators she grabbed both children out of the tub and ran into her son’s bedroom — where she found him talking on his cellphone. Then, the grandmother said she yelled at her son to dial 911 as she performed CPR on the child.

Those lifesaving efforts were passed onto the children’s aunt, investigators wrote in the warrant, who overheard the shouting upstairs and came running — quickly relieving the grandmother and vainly trying to press life into the baby boy’s chest.

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Details about the final moments in the children’s bathroom, different but not necessarily contradictory, would find their way to investigators.

The children’s grandmother allegedly said she had never before seen her son fill the bathtub up so high. Normally, she allegedly said, the water would only reach halfway up the baby’s bathing chair.

Rodriguez himself, speaking to detectives through tears, said he left the water on “just a trickle” but that it was only at the level of the baby’s feet when he left the children by themselves.

Investigators also noted other factors that might have contributed to the water levels in the bathtub. Such factors included: whether or not the plug was in the drain — this was unclear; whether or not the water was still running — the grandmother said it was not; or if the 3-year-old had touched the faucet or the plug — Rodriguez said he told his older boy not to touch either but efforts to interview the surviving child were swiftly abandoned because he could neither understand the questions nor remain focused, police said.

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When confronted about allegedly being on the phone while the children bathed, Rodriguez added to his initial recollection, according to the warrant. He said he stopped by his bedroom, after using the second bathroom, to get his phone off the charger. While the defendant told investigators he thought the phone call was brief, the children’s grandmother said she noticed her son on the phone in a hallway for at least 10 minutes, police say.

“The East Haven Police Department extends its deepest condolences to the family of Angel Josiah Rodriguez,” the police department said in a press release. “We hope this arrest brings some measure of accountability and helps Angel’s family in their pursuit of healing. This heartbreaking loss has deeply affected all involved. We are grateful to our first responders and investigative personnel for their dedication to this case, and we continue to stand with Angel’s family as they grieve.”

Rodriguez was arrested on Monday. He is currently being detained in the New Haven Correctional Center on $200,000 bond.

‘He just turned over’: Father left 7-month-old to drown in bathtub while talking on the phone, police say

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‘He just turned over’: Father left 7-month-old to drown in bathtub while talking on the phone, police say

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