ORLANDO, Fla. – New evidence in the case of a 2-year-old boy who died at a motel off Lee Road in Orange County last June was released Wednesday, the same day his mother and her boyfriend were scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on child abuse charges.
The boy, Justin Polk Jr., was found unresponsive at the Countryside Inn and Suites on Lee Road. He was living in a motel room with his brother, sister, his mother, Merissa Anderson, and her boyfriend, Jonathan Charapata.
The medical examiner concluded that the boy was beaten and strangled but no one has been charged with his death. Anderson and Charapata were charged with child abuse for signs of abuse found on Polk Jr's siblings.
The state attorney filed more than 50 photographs as evidence in the case. The photos show the inside of the motel room where the family was living. It reveals the condition of the room prior to the boy's death with garbage, clothes, food and beer strewn all around. There are several photos investigators took of children's clothing with cigarette burns in a boy's shirt and a girl's outfit.
Anderson's two other children remain in foster care.
Anderson and Charapata were scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Wednesday morning but it was held behind closed doors with only attorneys. The hearing was continued until Feb. 3, 2015.