Man Faces Battery Charge In Stepson's Death

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- A man was jailed Friday on battery charges the day after his 1-year-old stepson died in what police said was a possible case of child abuse.

The Montgomery County prosecutor was considering additional charges against Nicholas Toscano in the death of Gabriel Cole Preheim at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, police said.

Staff at the St. Clare Medical Center in Crawfordsville called police on Wednesday to report a possible case of child abuse after the boy was brought in, Police Chief Kurt Knecht said. The child was taken by helicopter to Riley for treatment of head trauma and other injuries.

Gabriel was alone with Toscano, 22, in a Crawfordsville motel before being taken to the hospital, police said. Police said Gabriel's mother, Misha Toscano, 20, was shopping.

Nicholas Toscano told doctors that Gabriel was injured in a fall from a sofa at the motel, where the family was living, police said. Doctors, however, told police said the head trauma Gabriel suffered couldn't have come from such a fall.

Officers arrested Nicholas Toscano on Thursday and he was being held at the Montgomery County Jail under a $50,000 bond.