A BOY who was found dead in a garage freezer died of blunt force injuries, a coroner has ruled.
Four-year-old Mason Dominguez's body was discovered last month inthe garage of his mother's partner after she smuggled a note out while being held by him.
According to detectives, the boy had been there for at least 10 weeks.
The Clark County Office of the Medical Examiner on Thursday revealed the little boy' cause of death, which is now classified asa homicide, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Brandon Toseland, 35, has been charged with kidnapping of a minor and murder in connection to Mason's death.
He is also facing child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm and domestic violence by strangulation charges.
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The boy’s 28-year-old mother and her two children, Mason and a seven-year-old girl, moved into Toseland’s home 10 miles north-east of the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada last March.
The mother said she was locked in a room and kept away from her children for months.
In March, the mom filed a wrongful death lawsuit, in which she claimed that Toseland had set up a video camera system throughout the home.
“Between March and July of 2021, Toseland began systematically alienating [the mother] from her family and friends, in small incremental, but increasing acts of domination and control,” read the lawsuit.
He later forbade the woman from seeing her children starting in July 2021.
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Mason's mother was locked in a different room and claimed that Toseland took control of her phone and social media accounts.
In the lawsuit, the she also claimed Mason was locked away in the master bedroom after he fell ill.
“[The mother] noticed that her son Mason often had bruises and Toseland told her that the dog knocked him over, or that he fell, frequently explaining his injuries as accidental,” read the lawsuit.
Toseland eventually admitted to killing the child, the arrest report showed though he claimed Mason's death was an accident.
He was previously charged with domestic violence and had been ordered to attend counseling, according to arrest records.
Mason's body was only discovered after authorities were alerted to Toseland's home after the Clark County School District contacted them after Mason's seven-year-old girl brought a note to her teacher.
The note read that the girl’s mother was being held against her will and that she didn’t know what happened to her younger brother.
Mason’s mother said that she had not seen her son since December 11 and was worried that he might have died.
According to court documents, Toseland told the boy’s mother that Mason got sick in early December. He said he found the boy unconscious but would not let the mother see him.
Police found the little boy's remains "hidden under a false cardboard bottom and under multiple items of food" in the freezer.
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Toseland is due in court on November 29. His jury trial is scheduled to start on December 5.
He remains in custody.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at thehotline.org.
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