LI couple charged with boy's murder blame each other, cops say

A Long Island couple accused of killing the woman's 2-year-old son in Georgia are blaming each other for the child's death, police said Monday.

Elizabeth Calvo, 21, and her boyfriend Adam Garber, 25, who relatives said had moved south just over a week before Aiden Calvo, 2, died Dec. 22, have been charged with felony murder and child cruelty, according to Gwinnett County police.

They are being held without bond and are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. The death was first reported last week by several Georgia media outlets.

Aiden's skull was broken and he had bite marks and bruises on his body, said police spokesman Sgt. Randy Work. After Aiden died, the couple accused each other of causing the toddler's death, Work said.

Six days earlier, on Dec. 16, an emergency medical crew responded to an early morning 911 call at the couple's Norcross apartment and found Aiden with "serious injuries" and called authorities, Gwinnett police said in a news release.

"Elizabeth Calvo and Adam Garber could not provide satisfactory explanations for Aiden's injuries," according to the release. " . . . Detectives interviewed medical personnel and found that Aiden had extensive injuries and signs of neglect and abuse."

Calvo's other son, who is 5, was also in the apartment, but was "fine," Work said, and is currently in the care of a social services agency in Georgia.

SEE PHOTOSNotable LI crimes

Calvo and Garber, who was released from prison in 2012, were arrested Dec. 16 and held on charges of first-degree cruelty to children, Work said. When Aiden died in the hospital six days later, the pair was charged with murder, he said.

Adam Garber's father, Keith Garber, 68, formerly of Massapequa, said by phone from his home in Las Vegas that his son and Calvo grew up together in Oceanside, but only began dating recently.

"He's had problems, but nothing like this," Keith Garber said of his son. "Right now, it's a he-said, she-said thing."

Adam Garber "is as gentle as anybody could possibly be," Keith Garber said. "None of this had anything to do with Adam. . . . It's just insane. There's no way he would have touched a baby."

He said his son is represented by a court-appointed attorney, who could not be reached. An attorney and relatives of Calvo could also not be reached Monday.

The couple left Oceanside and drove to Georgia because Calvo wanted to be close to family members there, Keith Garber said.

A spokeswoman for Nassau County's Department of Social Services, would not comment on whether the agency had previously had any involvement with the family.

According to court records, Adam Garber pleaded guilty in 2010 in Nassau to felony charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, forgery and a misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of stolen property. He was sentenced to two years in prison. In 2009, he pleaded guilty in Nassau to attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 28 hours of community service, court records show.

Keith Garber said his son's criminal record stems from an addiction to oxycodone. Adam Garber was released from prison in August 2012 and moved with him to Las Vegas, his father said.