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Live-in boyfriend charged in death of special needs child, 6
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Eder Acosta

CUMMING — Forsyth County sheriff’s investigators have charged a 20-year-old man in the beating death of a 6-year-old special needs child.

Eder Acosta is being held at the Forsyth County Jail on multiple charges, including felony murder, aggravated battery and cruelty to children.

The child, Bryan Guzman-Moreno, died Thursday. Acosta was arrested Saturday morning.

Acosta, who investigators described as the live-in boyfriend of the child’s mother, Laura Moreno, did not use a weapon.

He reportedly beat the child after dropping the mother off at work about 6 a.m. Thursday, according to authorities. The attack occurred in the family’s home off Valley Lane, northwest of Cumming.

Guzman-Moreno was reportedly in cardiac arrest when Acosta drove him to Northside Hospital-Forsyth.

Sheriff’s Lt. Col. Gene Moss said the story Acosta gave hospital officials was inconsistent with the child’s injuries.

The child was flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where he later died as a result of blunt force trauma. Sheriff’s Capt. Frank Huggins said the child had internal injuries.

Investigators said Moreno’s two other sons, ages 1 and 11, were home during the incident, but were not hurt. There were no witnesses, authorities said.

Also living in the house are several other family members, one of whom watched the other children while Acosta drove to the hospital.

The two boys are in custody of the Department of Family & Children Services. The 1-year-old is the son of Acosta and Moreno, investigators said. Guzman-Moreno and the 11-year-old have a different father.

Huggins said Guzman-Moreno was in the special education program at Sawnee Elementary School, not far from where he lived.

School district officials said the boy was a rising first-grader.