Police arrested 31-year-old David Vickers (pictured) who they say killed his girlfriend’s toddler son in August
Police say a man killed his girlfriend’s 17-month-old son and stole her car stereo and laptop while she was in the hospital with her dying child.
The Bradenton Herald reports that 31-year-old David Vickers is being held without bail on charges of second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Authorities say Vickers was taking care of Luca Sholey while the child’s mother was at work.
Vickers claims he put the boy to bed and found him unresponsive when he checked on him an hour later.
An autopsy determined Sholey’s death to be from blunt-force trauma to his brain.
The toddler also had bruises on his chest and six broken ribs at different stages of healing .
An autopsy report showed that 17-month-old Luca Sholey (pictured) died of blunt-force trauma to the brain
Vickers is also charged with theft after police say he pawned a car stereo and computer owned by Sholey’s mother.
Police say Vickers was already in custody when he was charged in the Luca Sholey’s death.
On August 21, Luca was rushed to the Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. He was later transferred John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida where doctors pronounced him brain dead.
He was also found with multiple injuries and six broken ribs healing at different stages
Luca Sholey died four days later on August 25.
Melissa Wolfe, Luca’s mother, had stayed by the child’s side since he was first admitted to the emergency room.
But while Wolfe was with her dying child, police say that Vickers took the opportunity to pawn Wolfe’s car stereo and Apple computer.
According to a court affidavit, Vickers made the transaction on August 21, just hours after the child was taken to the hospital. The pawn broker gave him $30.
Vickers was first arrested on August 24 for driving with a revoked license. He was also charged with possession of marijuana.
Vickers had been paroled from prison just months earlier, being released on May 18 after spending almost three years locked up for trafficking in stolen property and defrauding a pawnbroker, according to the Herald.
Vickers is said to have stolen the mother’s laptop and car stereo while she was in the hospital with her dying son