DC man charged with murdering girlfriend's toddler
Man charged in death of 16-month-old boy
A 1-year-old baby is dead, and the man police say is responsible is now behind bars. A 28-year-old man from D.C. is now facing child abuse and murder charges for an incident that happened in Silver Spring. FOX 5 reporter Nana-Sentuo Bonsu is in Rockville with the latest on this investigation
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - A 16-month-old boy is dead because of his mother's boyfriend's abuse, according to detectives in the Montgomery County Police Department who arrested the man on Monday.
An investigation led detectives to believe that 28-year-old Marlon Adilson Melendez allegedly abused the child, at least on one occasion, causing serious injuries.
In the early morning hours on March 11, 16-month-old Xavier Giron's mom called police to her apartment because she said when she woke up she discovered he was not breathing. When first responders arrived at the apartment in the 7900 block of Silver Spring, Xavier was still unconscious.
He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Marlon Adilson Melendez, 28, of Washington D.C.
Xavier's body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner who conducted an autopsy and found signs of child abuse.
Court documents revealed that two days before the child died, Melendez, Xavier, and his mom went to dinner at Dona Azucena restaurant.
Detectives watched surveillance footage that captured Melendez rubbing lemon juice on Xavier's eye when his mom left the table. The video also apparently caught Melendez pulling Xavier's hair and digging his fingers into the toddler's temple.
On Friday, May 19, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Melendez. U.S. Marshals arrested him in Hyattsville on Monday and he is being charged with first-degree child abuse and second-degree murder.