AUGUSTA, Ga. — A Georgia couple have been charged in the death of their 6-month-old son, and law enforcement officials say this isn’t the first time one of their babies has died in their care.
Salena Devine Tyler and Tyrone Christopher were arrested Tuesday night and have been charged with felony second degree cruelty to children in the death of their 6-month-old, Samson Scott.
Samson was taken to Augusta University Medical Center by emergency medical services after being found unresponsive at his home. He was pronounced dead around 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Authorities say the two were under the influence and they left Samson alone in another room for about two hours. Samson was reportedly exposed to extreme living conditions, including roach infestation, exposure to illegal drugs and alcohol, and broken furniture, WJBF-TV reported.
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The television station learned that this isn’t the first time the couple have been charged in the death of one of their children.
In February 2021, the couple were charged with murder in the death of their 1-year-old son, Travis Scott.
August Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jared Williams told WJBF-TV the warrants from 2021 were dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
“I only seen that baby, a couple times and, yeah, I knew about that story too and that’s why I’m like ‘again, this happened again,’” neighbor Jennifer Tollison told the TV station.
An autopsy is expected to be performed on Samson to determine his cause of death.
Information from WJBF-TV used in this article.
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