The 911 phone call a mother made in February before her severely autistic 17-year-old boy died in Hartford has been released.
"My 17-year-old son– I don't know what it is– but he might have gall-gall stones because he's been vomiting for the past 24 hours. Now his belly is bulging. But he hasn't urinated anything. I mean, I used to have gall stones before and I know what it feels like and how it looks like."
Seventeen-year-old Matthew Tirado was pronounced dead at 5:15 a.m. on Feb. 15, hours after he was brought to the hospital, and the medical examiner reached out to police to report some suspicious findings, according to Hartford Police.
Matthew Tirado’s mother, 33-year-old mother, Katiria Tirado, called 911 at 2:53 a.m. Tuesday and said her son was vomiting at an apartment on 519 Park Street and had “gall stones,” police said. Emergency crews responded to the home and brought Matthew to the Hartford Hospital.
Tirado was arrested the day after her son died and was charged with cruelty of a person.
When the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner called detectives, police began to investigate the incident as a possible homicide.
Hartford Police learned the 5-foot-9 teen weighed approximately 88 pounds, was severely autistic and had cuts; bruises on his arms, face and chest; and broken bones, Hartford police said.
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Tirado said her son would eat uncontrollably, so she allegedly screwed cabinet doors shut and padlocked the refrigerator in order to "protect" her son, according to court documents.
Court documents revealed that for the month prior to her son’s death, Tirado would give him protein powder with meals because he kept losing weight. Instead of taking the 17-year-old to the hospital, Tirado would search the internet for remedies, according to documents.
"I want to know happened. I want to know why she did this if she did," the boy's father, Pedro Gomez, said. Gomez hadn't seen his son for six months.
Tirado's bond was set at $200,000 and she is expected to appear in court on Mar. 21.
