UPDATE | Arraignment was postponed on Wednesday for a Signal Hill man charged in the death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son last year.
Samuel Aguilar, 23, was charged with one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and injuring a girlfriend as well as two counts of child abuse.
His arraignment was postponed to August 27.
City News Service contributed to this report.
PREVIOUSLY: Signal Hill Couple Faces Child Abuse, Murder Charges
8/11/2015 at 5:36PM | A Signal Hill couple accused of physically abusing the woman’s two young children, leading to a toddler’s death, was charged on Monday at the Long Beach Superior Courthouse, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Jessica Rey Cereceres, 24, was charged with two felony counts of child abuse, while her boyfiend Samuel Aguilar, 23, was charged with one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death and injuring a girlfriend as well as two counts of child abuse.
Aguilar and Cereceres lived together as a couple with Cereceres’ two small children.
On August 10, 2014, Cereceres’ two-year-old was taken to a hospital for treatment of body trauma and was later pronounced dead, authorities stated in a press release.
Law enforcement then began an investigation into the child’s death and discovered the one-year-old also had injuries to his body, prosecutors added.
Authorities charged the couple in connection with the children’s injuries after a year-long examination of reports and evidence, officials said.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Aguilar has been in custody since November, 2014. He was arrested for witness intimidation and dissuasion.
Aguilar is scheduled to be arraigned at the Long Beach Superior Courthouse on Wednesday, during which prosecutors will ask the judge to set a $1.28 million bail, the release stated.
Cereceres appeared Tuesday for her arraignment, which will continue on August 27 at the Long Beach Superior Courthouse as well.
Her bail has been set at $200,000.
Aguilar faces a possible maximum sentence of life in state prison if convicted as charged. Cereceres faces up to seven years and eight months in prison.
The LASD is investigating the domestic violence case.