Axel Charrette Murder: Colorado boy, 2, killed by babysitter's ex-boyfriend at Mexico vacation home, family says

(CBS/AP) MEXICO CITY - Mexican officials said Wednesday a 2-year-old Colorado boy was killed by his babysitter's ex-boyfriend last month while he and his family was vacationing in Mexico, CBS Denver reports.

Family spokesman Brian Scranton said Jen and Randy Charrette were renting a home in Sayulita, Mexico for about two months and hired a local woman and her mother to watch the home and children.

Axel Charrette and his 7-year-old brother were being watched by Nancy Saralee Solorio Perez while their parents were out of the house on Feb. 28 when Solorio's ex-boyfriend, Eleodoro Carlos Rodriguez Sanchez, entered the home, attacked Axel and threw him in a pool to drown, according to CBS Denver.

Axel's older brother was locked in the house uninjured and did not witness the crime, Scranton said.

The prosecutor's office said Solorio reported being too terrified to alert police during the crime. According to a family statement, Solorio let Sanchez into the property only to realize that "he was in a violent, drug-induced state."

"Out of fear, she locked herself in a bathroom, leaving Axel outside," the statement said. "The boyfriend, for reasons unknown, hurt Axel, then threw him in the pool, leaving him to drown."

The prosecutor's office in the state of Nayarit said Sanchez was arrested and charged with rape and murder. Prosecutors said the babysitter was charged with homicide for failing to stop the attack and with lying about it to medical personnel.

Scranton said the Charrettes returned to their home in Ridgway, Colo. on Monday and were overwhelmed by the support from residents of the town, who set up an assistance fund, created a website for neighbors to sign up to bring meals to the grieving family and opened their homes to relatives coming to support the family. The town is naming a bike trail after the slain boy, Scranton said.

"There's something amazing about it," he said. "Whatever they need, it's been given to them without question."