Florida man alleged to have killed girlfriend’s toddler son

A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly abusing a toddler to death before robbing the little boy’s mother.

David Earl Vickers has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in regards to Luca Sholey’s death in August. He is also facing theft charges.

Vickers was charged on Thursday, while already in custody on other matters and has been held without bail.

The 31-year-old had been watching the 17-month-old boy and his three-year-old sister while their mother, his girlfriend, Melissa Wolfe was at work.

Vickers called police to report the toddler was unresponsive, claiming he had put the boy to bed and when he returned to check on him an hour later, he found him in that state.

However, according to a Holmes Beach police statement, the toddler had “injuries that were consistent with child abuse”.

The Bradenton Herald reports the toddler’s death was the result of a blunt trauma to the brain but he also presented with bruises on his chest and six broken ribs at different stages of healing. 

While People magazine say the boy suffered two episodes of blunt-force trauma to his chest and his death was asphyxia-related.

After spending two days in hospital, Luca was declared brain dead and the family decided to keep him on life support to harvest his organs but dies on Aug 25.

During this time, while Wolfe was in hospital by her son’s side, Vickers allegedly sold off her car stereo and Apple laptop.

Wolfe realised what had happened when she found a bottle of water in her car with a pawn shop logo on the packaging.

He was charged on August 30 with grand theft between $300 and $5,000, two counts of dealing in stolen property and two counts of obtaining money from a pawnbroker by fraud.

Just prior to the toddler’s death, on August 24, Vickers was arrested for driving without a license and with possession of marijuana.

He pleaded not guilty to both of those charges.

Vickers had been released from jail in May having served almost three years of his four-year sentence for defrauding a pawnbroker.