A baby's death was ruled a homicide. One year later, a soldier is still under investigation.

In February of 2023, eight-month-old Misty Lue Delatorre was pronounced dead at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. An autopsy from the State Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide. Nearly one year later, no one has been charged, yet a soldier is under investigation. Delatorre's mother and maternal grandmother reached out to WRAL Investigates, determined to bring attention to the case in the hopes of getting justice.

"It's disgusting," grandmother Misty Bray said, through tears. "She was eight months old. How could you hurt a baby like that? She was beautiful. Green eyes. Beautiful little baby. And i just kept thinking why...I want to know why."

The autopsy says the baby was home alone with her father, Gabriel Ceville, who is an active duty soldier at Fort Liberty.

“Her father stated that she had not been feeling well, and she had vomited,” it explains. He “slapp[ed] her on the back to clear her airway.”

The autopsy clearly disputes that narrative, noting the nature of the injuries are "highly associated with abusive head trauma in infants"...and would be hard to explain by anything else.

It details damage to her eyes, spine, head and neck, listing the cause of death as "blunt force injuries", and the manner of death as "homicide."

The girl was initially treated in Fayetteville and then airlifted to UNC Hospitals, according to the Medical Examiner's report.

"My home doesn't feel complete without her," the baby's mother, Alina Delatorre, told WRAL from her home in California. "It feels like, no matter how hard I try, it's not complete."

The mother and grandmother remember the baby as a happy, determined little girl. She says she was born three months early, and was a fighter.

"My granddaughter has no one to defend her," Bray said. "And I have to, my daughter has to. We have to stand up. My family has to stand up. Because nothing is happening."

WRAL Investigates' Sarah Krueger spoke by phone with Ceville, who confirmed that he is under investigation, yet denies harming his child, saying he would have no motive to do so. He did not want to do a recorded interview, he said, because of the ongoing investigation.

Only days before Delatorre's death, the baby's parents had been involved in a heated custody battle that played out in Cumberland County court.

The maternal side of the family says Ceville had been absent from the child's life, and that he lived separately from the baby with another woman to whom he is now married.

Court records there show a judge granted primary custody to Ceville, secondary custody to the Delatorre. The baby was supposed to spend six months of the year with each parent. She was three days into her stay with her father when she was hospitalized.

"He had her for three days," Bray said. "That's it... The judge was so concerned about the benefits that the military offered that she wasn't concerned about anything else."

According to the medical examiner's report, the Department of Social Services opened an investigation after the baby's death, and removed the father from the Fort Liberty home "for safety concerns" of his 8-year-old stepchild and three-month-old biological child also living there.

The autopsy mentions a prior incident, in December 2022, in which a pediatrician noted unexplained bruising on Delatorre's face, writing that it is "highly suspicious."

The mother and grandmother say that bruising was noted after the girl had spent time with her father. He denies any involvement in that.

WRAL Investigates sent a number of questions to the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, which is handling the case. In response, a spokesperson spent an email reading:

“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is aware of and investigating this tragic death. No additional details can be released at this time.”

Delatorre and Bray said they are frustrated at being in the dark of where the investigation stands, and the slow pace of it.

"They don't act like they need to answer to my daughter or anybody because it's a military thing," Bray said. "If it were not a military base, guarantee someone would have been arrested on the spot."

Bray told WRAL Investigates she and other family members have a court date in Orange County in February, as they were charged with simple assault for a brawl at UNC Hospitals upon learning of the injuries to their loved one. The charges, brought by Ceville, will go to trial.