Centralia Woman Accused of Abusing Toddler Enters Guilty Plea, Doesn’t Admit Wrongdoing

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A Centralia woman accused of abusing a 3-year-old between July and September 2019 has entered an Alford guilty plea to two counts of third-degree assault of a child, domestic violence. 

The defendant, Eloisa Cruz, 34, is accused of criminal negligence that resulted in “bodily harm accompanied by substantial pain that extended for a sufficient period to cause considerable suffering to a child,” according to court documents. 

She was arrested and charged with second-degree assault in September 2019 after Centralia police responded to Providence Centralia Hospital for a report from a paramedic of a 3-year-old child with injuries consistent with abuse, including “two black eyes, a burn on his left hand and bruising in various stages of healing,” according to court documents. Paramedics also reported the child said Cruz burned his hand with water. 

The officer visited the boy in the hospital and observed him “whimpering in pain,” according to court documents. The child reportedly confirmed it was Cruz who assaulted him. 

Hospital staff reported the boy had a second-degree burn, according to court documents, and was suffering from bleeding in his brain. He was transferred to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma. 

At Mary Bridge, a doctor concluded the child was likely a victim of “acute and chronic abuse,” according to court documents, and discovered evidence of “beating with objects,” “violent yanking of ears” and cigarette and lighter burns. 

At the time, Cruz reportedly told police the victim’s injuries were caused by seizures, but the victim’s medical tests weren’t consistent with her story. 

Cruz was held on a $25,000 bail until a bail bond was posted in March 2020. 

Her case was scheduled to go to trial on May 25, but she entered a change of plea to amended charges on May 21. 

An Alford plea is a type of guilty plea in which a defendant does not admit any wrongdoing, but acknowledges that, if the case proceeded to trial with the evidence that the prosecution has, a jury would likely find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 

The prosecuting attorney is recommending that Cruz be sentenced to serve 22 months in jail, with an additional 12 months in community custody, and pay restitution and court costs. 

Cruz’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 17. 

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Previous reporting by The Chronicle was used in this report.