The Tucson father arrested in the death of his 4-year-old daughter initially told investigators the girl drowned when she fell in the tub while taking a bath, court records show.
The girlβs death on the morning of March 16, was initially reported as a drowning. However, while the girlβs autopsy deemed her death a homicide by an undetermined cause with the possibility of drowning, it also found blunt force injuries and evidence of sexual assault, according to an interim complaint filed in Pima County Consolidated Justice Court.
Nathan Aaron Peru, 30, was apprehended last week after fleeing from investigators during questioning about his daughterβs death.
On the day of the girlβs death, Peru called 911 and told officers he was outside his home near North Flowing Wells and West Wetmore roads and heard a loud βthump,β which he thought was his dog, the court document shows. When he went inside to investigate the noise, he saw his daughter βface down in the bathtub,β the complaint says.
Peru told investigators he removed his daughter from the bathtub, dried her and began administering CPR and breath resuscitation until Tucson Fire arrived and took over. The girl was declared dead later that morning.
Peru told investigators he and his daughter went to bed about midnight and woke up about 6:30 a.m.
Before taking the girl to McDonaldβs for breakfast, Peru said he began to fill the bathtub so she could take a bath. Since the faucet was broken, he said he used the showerhead to fill the tub and that his daughter knew when to shut it off, the complaint says.
Peru told investigators he left his daughter to go clean the house and get nicotine pouches from her car but left the front and bathroom door open so he could hear the girl if she called for him.
He then heard the βthumpβ and thought his dog knocked over his tools in the living room, the complaint said.
When detectives contacted Peru for additional questioning, he fled in a stolen city vehicle.
Peru was apprehended and jailed Aug 29.
