Jacob Gaona, 1 [Updated]

Jacob Gaona, a 1-year-old Latino, died Thursday, April 1, in the 300 block of South Rampart Boulevard in Westlake, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Authorities said on Thursday night Jacob's mother left him in the bathtub to grab a towel. When she returned, she found him submerged and not breathing, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The woman said she had been gone for a couple of minutes. She had left the boy with an older brother but realized that he had also gotten out of the tub.

After discovering Jacob, the woman took him to another room and called for help. When rescuers arrived at the home, they tried to revive the child, the department said.

Jacob was taken to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where he was pronounced dead.

In the initial coroner's report, Jacob's death was listed as a homicide citing evidence that he was found lying in an empty bathtub. It also said the mother provided inconsistent statements regarding the events on the night of the child's death.

According to an official from the coroner's office, as of April 2, a final determination in Jacob's case has been deferred while coroner's investigators perform additional tests to figure out his cause of death.

[Updated Feb. 28, 2011: Coroner's officials said Jacob was left unattended in the bathtub and drowned. Due to neglect by the parent, his death was ruled a homicide. His mother, Nancy Jacinto, a 20-year-old Latina, was charged with one count of murder and two counts of child abuse, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. She is scheduled for a pretrial conference March 11 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.]

--Robert J. Lopez and Sarah Ardalani