Tavares parents say they did nothing wrong in infant son's death

Mom: 'Today's Mother's Day. I can't even think of it'

TAVARES, Fla. – The young parents of a baby who died suddenly in a Lake County motel room said Sunday they did nothing wrong.

Parents Aliyah Velez and Gabriel Steedley called News 6 after Saturday’s 11 p.m. newscast, wanting to share their side of the story, following the 3-month-old’s death Friday.

News 6 previously reported that the Tavares Police Department believes the baby’s death is considered suspicious, and that officers were told the infant’s father had been abusive, and said at one point that he didn’t want the baby.

Steedley, 19, was taking care of the infant when the baby stopped breathing. However, he has not been arrested or charged with a crime in connection with the baby's death.

"It's really hard to move on,” Velez said. “Today's Mother's Day. I can't even think of it. I don't have my son anymore and miss him a lot."

Velez, speaking from a park bench in Leesburg, said she has lost both of her little boys.

First, her 3-month-old son died at a hospital after paramedics tried to revive him at the Inn on the Green. Now, his 2-year-old brother, who was staying in the same motel room, has been taken away from Velez and Steedley by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

"We're not bad people,” Steedley said. “We didn't ask for this. It's hard."

Steedley said he was watching both children in room 216. He went to sleep, his friend stopped by, he checked on the baby and the infant was unresponsive, he said.

"I was crying, but how was it for him?” Velez said. “He went to go check the baby and baby wasn't breathing and he had to hold our baby that wasn't alive anymore. That had to be really hard. I don't think anyone's thinking of that. No one's really supporting us."

But police wrote in their report that they almost immediately treated the situation as a suspicious death investigation.

Steedley is known to officers. News 6 obtained a mugshot from a 2016 domestic violence arrest. He’s still on probation.

Police wrote in a report that at least three people reported "the father to be very abusive to the baby.”

Those people told detectives that Steedley had said "he didn't want the baby," and that Steedley "did not appear upset or concerned." Detectives wrote that Steedley asked them, "I'm going to jail for child neglect or something, aren't I?"

But he said Sunday, "I have no reason to worry. I know what I did and what happened. I was sleeping so I couldn't have done anything."

The medical examiner said Saturday there was no visual trauma to the baby's body, so more tests are being conducted, including a toxicology report. Those results could take up to eight weeks.

News 6 will update this article as soon as the results are in.

The only explanation the couple offered was perhaps the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome, also known as SIDS.


About the Authors:

Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

Emmy-nominated journalist Kristin Cason joined the News 6 team in June 2016.

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