In court on Tuesday, the woman’s aunt was in court and defended her, saying she was on the phone with Santiago the night before Aziryh drowned, and that she doesn’t believe Aziryh was left unattended at the apartments.

Santiago held back tears as she listened to a Volusia County judge read out her charges: aggravated manslaughter of a child and neglect of a child.

READ: Central Florida mom arrested after 3-year-old drowns in pond

Police said she left her son, Aziryh, unattended for hours before he drowned in the retention pond behind these apartments.

The affidavit states that police were called to the apartments Sunday for a drowning. It goes on to say that Santiago messaged a neighbor just before 3 p.m. asking the neighbor to tell police she watched her son.

Yvone Martinez, her aunt, said “She was giving her son proper supervision, and the doors on those apartments aren’t any kind of good for a 3-year-old anyway.”

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She went on to say, “When I was there last time, he was playing with the doors and when you twist the doors … the doors unlock, so it’s easy for any child to get in and out of those in any situation.”

Santiago told police her son escaped several times, but she hadn’t put preventative measures in place to stop this.

Santiago is being held at the Volusia County Jail without bond because the state said she is a danger to the state, and her next court appearance has not been set.

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