Baby drowned while mother out buying cigarettes, wings

A 9-month-old Colorado Springs boy died of scalding and drowning Tuesday after his mother left him alone in a bathtub with his 2-year-old brother while she went to buy cigarettes and chicken wings, police said in an arrest affidavit.

The dead boy was identified as Erich Tyler Jr., the infant son of a Fort Carson soldier serving in Afghanistan.

Erich's brother was uninjured.

According to the affidavit, 23-year-old Estella Toleafoa told police she had run out of milk for the children's dinner and planned to buy some at a nearby convenience store.

The affidavit related the following account of what led up to Erich's death:

Before leaving, Toleafoa put Erich and his brother in the bathtub, ran the water until it was about an inch deep in the tub and left both boys naked in the tub.

No one was watching her sons when she left the apartment, locking the door behind her. Instead of going to buy milk, Toleafoa went across the street to a liquor store, where she buy camel cigarettes, then walked to a restaurant to get chicken wings.

She estimated she was gone about 10 minutes and went straight to the bathroom when she returned. The hot water was running and the bathtub was half full. The older boy was standing outside the tub and Erich was floating face down in the water.

Toleafoa said she called 911 within a minute of finding Erich floating in the water. She carried him to a couch and then placed him on the floor while she tried to revive him.

Erich was unresponsive when officers responded at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday to the family's apartment on South Chelton Road.

Efforts to resuscitate the boy were unsuccessful.

In the affidavit, detectives described finding scalding burns on Erich and residue of his skin in the tub and on a wash cloth.

An autopsy showed that Erich suffered severe burns from bath water on most of his body, and died of a combination of scalding and drowning.

Toleafoa was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of felony child abuse.

She is being held in El Paso County jail on a $150,000 bond, jail records show.

According to police spokesman Sgt. Steve Noblitt, the child’s father is on his way back to Colorado Springs. Police postponed their announcement of the death until he could be notified, Noblitt said.

The second boy was placed in foster care, police said