The father of a baby who hasn’t been seen in a year and a half was ordered held without bond Tuesday on one count of aggravated manslaughter of a child, a first-degree felony.
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Alejandro Leon, 21, was arrested last week in North Carolina after a relative reported the baby, “Angelina,” missing since February 2025. Angelina was born around December 2024, according to the relative.
Broward County Judge Corey B. Friedman set no bond on the highest charge, a decision that can and likely will be revisited by whichever judge is permanently assigned to the case. The judge set bond at $25,000 for one count of tampering with evidence and $5,000 each for failing to report a death to the medical examiner, reporting false information concerning a missing child, and obstructing a criminal investigation.
No mention was made at Tuesday morning’s court hearing of the baby’s mother, Samantha Feliz, 20, who was also arrested in North Carolina and is awaiting extradition.
Feliz waived her right to an extradition hearing and is scheduled to attend a hearing in Richmond County on Thursday morning, according to North Carolina court records.
Leon’s next court date in Broward will be set once his case is assigned to a judge.
The relative who reported the baby missing told police that he had seen Feliz and Leon in early July 2025, but the baby was not with them and they made no mention of her, according to arrest warrants filed in the case. They went as far as saying they never had a baby.
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“Since that time, Feliz has claimed that there never was a baby, that the baby was a hoax, and that she was scamming everyone for money,” the warrant said.
Feliz and Leon had been living in Hollywood and were evicted in February 2025. They became homeless, the warrant said, and the couple rented a storage unit that detectives would later search as part of their investigation.
Investigators reviewed numerous photos and videos of Angelina on the parents’ electronic devices that clearly showed the baby’s decline in health between the time she was born and up to the first week of 2025, the warrant said.
The baby’s facial features and skin tone changed, and in one “final photo, the victim is showing no signs of life.” No photos of Angelina after Jan. 5, 2025, were found.
Neither was the body of the baby.
Feliz and Leon, in interviews with law enforcement officers during the investigation, insisted they would not find any records that their baby existed, according to the warrant.
Leon’s lawyer, Rachel Preefer Matta, told the judge on Tuesday Leon had family to support him in the event of his release pending trial.
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Rafael Olmeda can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4457.