ZIONE WASHINGTON - 2 yo (2010) - Charlotte NC

Charlotte NC ---- A man is charged with murder in connection with the death of
his girlfriend's 2-year-old son.



Police say 32-year-old Michael Walker
is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.

Police say Shamika
Washington called 911 early Monday after returning home and finding her son,
Zione, unconscious.

Medic responded to the home on Teal Point Drive and
took the boy to Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.


Police say the toddler had bruises on his body.

Investigators
say Walker voluntarily went to police headquarters for questioning and confessed
to harming the child.

Again another story where 'MOM TRUSTED BOYFRIEND'
Mother of baby allegedly killed by boyfriend speaks

Posted:

wnRenderDate('Monday, April 12, 2010 1:54 PM EST', '', true);

Apr 12, 2010 1:54 PM EDT Updated:

wnRenderDate('Tuesday, April 13, 2010 4:07 PM EST', '', true);

Apr 13, 2010 4:07 PM EDT



CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - The mother of a murdered baby boy says she never suspected her boyfriend was capable of murder.
Pictures of 18-month-old Zione Washington, who died Monday, are spread across the counter at his grandfather's house.
In one picture, he's wearing a birthday hat. Another photo shows him sitting on the couch next to the man who police say beat him to death.
"I miss him so much," said Shamika Washington, Zione's mother.
With her father supporting her on one side, and her uncle on the other, Shamika Washington shares the story of how she returned from the store early Monday morning to find Zione unconscious.
"His body was really cold, his lips were blue, I tried to perform CPR on him," said Washington.
But it was too late. Doctors pronounced Zione dead at Presbyterian hospital. The bruise on his forehead revealed something had gone wrong while he was in her boyfriend's care.
Police say Washington's boyfriend, Michael Walker, later confessed to beating the baby with a plastic bowling ball pin to keep him from crying.
"I can't even explain the pain that I feel, he didn't deserve it," said Washington. "He really did not deserve it."
She says her heart aches. She can't sleep. She can't eat. Washington says she never noticed any warning signs and warns other parents to be aware.
"You've got to be careful, you don't want to feel the pain that I'm feeling right now, I have to bury my one year old child," she said.
Walker's friends and family told WBTV he's originally from New York and had lived in Charlotte for four years. He lived with Washington and her three young children and often babysat them.
Walker has been charged with First Degree Murder and Child Abuse Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury.
Washington will not face charges.

http://www.wbtv.com/global/story.asp?s=12296049#

Charlotte NC ---- Prosecutors
say
they'll seek a death sentence if they get a conviction against a North
Carolina man accused of killing a toddler.

Prosecutors said Thursday they
will seek a death sentence if 32-year-old Michael Walker is convicted.

The Charlotte man is charged with murder and child abuse inflicting
serious injury in the April 12 death of 18-month-old Zione Washington.

Walker's girlfriend, the child's mother, told police she had left the
boy and his two siblings with Walker while she went to a store for
about 15 minutes.

Prosecutors say the toddler suffered blows to the back, chest, arm,
forehead and jaw and died at a hospital.

Walker's attorney, Susan Weigand, says she doesn't think there is
enough evidence for a death sentence.

the mother should have been charged too,

This should be moved, he was sentenced almost a year ago.

flash0115 wrote:the mother should have been charged too,

I agree. According to this statement the mother would have known the monster was in no condition to watch a baby. She should be charged with neglect at least:

"Defense attorney Susan Weigand told the judge that Walker was intoxicated and had been smoking marijuana on the night of Zione's killing. She said Walker told police that Zione's mother had nothing to do with her child's death."