Mesa police arrest man in 2-year-old boy’s death

A 23-year-old man faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of a 2-year-old boy who police said was found “in distress” this week inside a Mesa apartment.

The Mesa Fire Department responded shortly after 4 a.m. Tuesday to a call for a child "in distress" at an apartment in the 400 block of Brown Road. The child was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead after receiving life-saving care, according to a police department release.

“Doctors observed suspicious bruising on the boy’s body and advised Mesa police,” the release stated, adding homicide detectives found evidence identifying Kishawn Porter as a suspect.

Later in the day Tuesday, Porter was arrested at his home without incident and was booked into jail for felony child abuse. That charge was changed to first-degree murder and felony child abuse ending in death following an autopsy on Wednesday, police said. Porter remains in custody