FREEPORT, Texas – Police in Freeport have taken a person of interest into custody in connection with the death of a 7-week-old.
Antoine Allen Gorman, 27, who is charged with three counts of child endangerment, was taken into custody without incident near the 12000 block of MLK Boulevard around 4 p.m. Friday.
According to police, Gorman, whom police originally identified as Luther Antoine Jefferson, is the live-in boyfriend of the child's mother, Tashiay Nelson. He is not the biological father, police said.
"Around the kids he was good with him but I guess that was just a front," Nelson said. "I was glad that he got caught."
Investigators said he was left alone with a 3-year-old, a 4-year-old and 7-week-old Malachi Nelson at the time of the baby’s death.
The 28-year-old mother of four returned from work Tuesday night to find her three young children alone.
Gorman was supposed to be watching the children.
"She called him on the phone and said why'd you leave my kids at home by themselves? He said 'I didn't I walked to the store but I'll be right there,' but he never showed up," said Michael Nelson, the children's uncle.
Tashiay thought her youngest child was asleep in his bouncer, but she quickly realized something was wrong.
"His face was cold, so I went to my sister house and I was trying to wake him up and he wouldn't wake up," she said.
Neighbors at the apartment complex on North Avenue J and Skinner tried to revive the baby.
“Whenever she would blow in his mouth, I would just kind (of) try to help her push his chest,” said neighbor Cra Bell.
Malachi died at a hospital.
Investigators looked into disturbing details coming from the baby’s 4-year-old sister.
“The little girl was saying that he got the (baby's) head and was dipping it down into the toilet,” said Nelson.
Michael Nelson said he didn't trust Gorman, even if he treated Malachi like his own son.
"The baby was in his bouncer and I thought he was asleep," Nelson said. "She told my sister he stuck the baby's head in the toilet and then she said he put the baby in the bathtub. So, I don't know, I guess he drowned the baby."
It is unclear how the child died.
The other two children are in protective custody, according to investigators.
UPDATE - We would like to announce that Antoine Allen Gorman is now in custody. This would not have been possible...
Posted by Freeport Police Department - Texas on Tuesday, November 22, 2016
