A man killed his 2-year-old daughter, police say, shortly after the girl’s mother dropped her off at his home. The killing occurred just two months after the pair settled a custody battle in Broward family court.

Jeronimo Anthony Duran, 33, is now facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. He’s being held at the Broward Main Jail.

Around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, police and fire rescue responded to a home in the 400 block of Southwest 177th Avenue in Pembroke Pines after receiving a call from Duran’s grandmother about the unresponsive child, according to Sgt. Jason Palant. First responders rushed the girl to Memorial Regional Hospital, where she was declared dead.

READ MORE: Pembroke Pines man accused of murdering 2-year-old girl

Palant told reporters Wednesday that he can’t confirm the girl’s cause of death but said she was found in the home’s kitchen bleeding from the neck, with a laceration to the throat. A knife was located at the scene.

Duran was questioned by detectives, Palant said, but investigators have yet to determine a motive for the killing. It’s unclear if there was a history of abuse in the home.

“It’s a very tragic incident,” Palant said. “Our hearts go out to the family of the victim. At this time, we’re just focusing on being able to provide justice to the family.”

Warning signs in custody battle?

According to a review of court records from a paternity case involving Duran and Mona Clarke, the child’s mother, the couple has been separated since 2023 and only recently came to a time-sharing agreement that granted both parties custody of the girl.

The parenting plan, filed in March, detailed how the girl’s parents would share custody of her, even when she would have reached the age to start school. It outlined that the girl would live with Clarke on weekdays — and with Duran on the weekends. Duran, according to the agreement, was also entitled to have his daughter with him on one weekday for at least three hours, though that could be extended to an overnight stay.

In April 2023, Duran filed a petition that stated that the couple had been in a “committed relationship” since December 2013 and lived together in the Pembroke Pines home until March that year. Attorney Liane Martinez, in the filing, argued that it would be in the child’s “best interest” that parental responsibility be shared by both parents.

“…[Duran] is very involved in the minor child’s life,” the filing states. “He performs traditional caretaking duties including but not limited to changing diapers, dressing the child, bathing the child, playing with the child, and attending medical appointments. He has a close and loving relationship with his daughter and is emotionally, physically, and financially supportive and devoted to the child..”

In a counterpetition, Clarke’s attorney, Suzanne Williams, alleged that Duran “is believed to be mentally unstable” and suffers from mental health problems, including anxiety, paranoia and anger issues. The filing also claimed that Duran had a history of abusing illegal drugs and had previously been Baker Acted, or admitted to a psychiatric hospital by first responders, at least five times.

“His behavior is erratic, aggressive, violent and dangerous to the mother and the minor child,” the filing says.

Clarke, according to court documents, urged a judge to allow her daughter to live with her while also permitting Duran to have supervised visits — after undergoing a psychological evaluation. Duran admitted to having mental health problems, court records show, but denied all other allegations. He said he was receiving treatment and taking prescribed medications.

Anyone with information about the killing should call the department’s tip line at 954-493-2200, email tips@ppines.com or call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.