Toddler Allegedly Killed by Man His Mom Just Met Just Days After Social Workers Visited Her: Reports

Police tape in a stock photo. (Carl Ballou/Shutterstock)

The mother of a slain 2-year-old boy in Pennsylvania is slated to stand trial for placing the child in danger.

Leah Mullinix, 22, of York, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, the York Daily Record reported.

Her 2-year-old son, Dante Mullinix, died on Sept. 14 while he was in the care of a man his mother allegedly only knew for a few weeks, according to police, as reported by the York Dispatch.

Tyree Marche’ll Bowie was charged with homicide and child endangerment after the boy’s death, the report said.

Police added she also failed to provide care for her son, saying that staff at the shelter where she was staying had to file a child-abuse report against her with the state, the York Dispatch reported.

Officials said Dante was taken to York Hospital with injuries at around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 6. He died about a week later just one week before his third birthday, officials said.

Bowie was the person who left Dante off at the hospital, and he left the facility after that, according to Fox43.

He admitted to police that he was the only one caring for the boy when he stopped breathing, the Fox affiliate reported. That’s when he rushed the child to the hospital.

Police said the child died of traumatic brain injuries accompanied by strangulation and suffocation, said officials.

The boy’s injuries came just days after social workers with the York County Office of Children, Youth and Families responded to abuse reports regarding Dante, reported PennLive.

Officials who interacted with Leah Mullinix on Sept. 2, told her to fill two prescriptions that doctor had already written for the child.

“York City Police Detective Kyle Hower, who’s the lead investigator in the case, said the York County Office of Children, Youth and Families is aware that Leah Mullinix is pregnant,” reported the York Daily Record.

“The office, he said, will open a case when the child is born. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kara Bowser did not oppose the request for supervised bail. If Leah Mullinix stayed locked up awaiting trial, she’d likely end up serving more time than if she’s convicted.”

Child Abuse

According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (pdf), approximately 3.5 million children nationwide in 2016 were the subjects of at least one maltreatment report to authorities.

“Child abuse is one of the nation’s most serious concerns,” the authors of the report wrote in the introduction. About 17 percent of those reports were substantiated; the department said that there were an estimated 676,000 victims of child abuse and neglect, or 9.1 victims per 1,000 children.

Children in their first year of life had the highest rate of victimization at 24.8 per 1,000 children of the same age in the national population.

About three-quarters of the cases were neglect while about 18 percent were physical abuse. Some children suffered from multiple forms of maltreatment.

Of the perpetrators of the abuse, more than four-fifths were between the ages of 18 and 44 and more than half were women.

If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, contact your local child protective services office or law enforcement agency so officials can investigate and assess the situation. Most states have a number to call to report abuse or neglect.

To find out where to call, consult the State Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Numbers website. The Childhelp organization also can provide crisis assistance and other counseling and referral services. Contact them at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).