{"id":252929,"date":"2026-04-30T20:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252929\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T20:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:19:09","slug":"north-miami-beach-boys-death-leaves-questions-about-upgraded-charges-nbc-6-south-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252929\/","title":{"rendered":"North Miami Beach boy\u2019s death leaves questions about upgraded charges \u2013 NBC 6 South Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been two months since a six-year-old boy was taken off life support after police say he was brutally beaten<\/a> by his mother\u2019s boyfriend. Authorities arrested both the boyfriend and the child\u2019s mother in connection with the case, but it remains unclear whether they will face upgraded charges following the boy\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

According to investigators, the child, identified as Mason, was a bright and joyful boy who loved music and singing karaoke. Mason, who had autism, was rushed to the hospital and placed in intensive care with severe brain injuries, including internal bleeding, after the alleged abuse.<\/p>\n

Daniel Romero<\/a>, the mother\u2019s boyfriend, was taken into custody in January and accused of abusing the child. Investigators also say Romero gave conflicting accounts of what happened, initially claiming that Mason\u2019s injuries were the result of a bicycle fall.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Mason\"\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFamily PhotoFamily Photo<\/p>\n

Mason<\/p>\n

Mason\u2019s grandmother, Elizabeth Garcia, was by his side until the end. She spoke to NBC6 after Romero’s hearing Thursday, calling for justice and urging prosecutors to upgrade the charges against Romero to murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gone, he\u2019s physically not here. It\u2019s horrible,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cNext month, he would have been graduating. We were robbed, I was robbed of my grandson\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia appeared in court demanding accountability, saying, \u201cI am here for justice for him. I show up for him because he deserves justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police also allege that Mason\u2019s mother, Cynthia Hernandez, shares responsibility. Investigators claim she failed to report the abuse and misled authorities. She could face more serious charges as the case develops<\/p>\n

Despite this, Garcia described her daughter as a victim of domestic violence. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like she\u2019s a victim. Domestic violence is a silent killer; victims don\u2019t come forward because of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

State attorneys say they are waiting for the medical examiner\u2019s report to be finalized before determining whether additional or upgraded charges, including murder, will be filed.<\/p>\n

Both Romero and Hernandez have pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been two months since a six-year-old boy was taken off life support after police say he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1219,123,125,124],"class_list":["post-252929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}