The trial for a West Melbourne mother accused of murder in the death of her toddler will have to start over after the judge declared a mistrial Tuesday.

Opening statements will get underway in the trial of a West Melbourne mother accused of murder in the death of her 3-year-old son.

Trial started Monday for Erica Dotson of West Melbourne, who walked into a courtroom as attorneys began to pick a jury. She faces the death penalty for the death of her son in 2021.

A West Melbourne couple will be tried separately this summer for the murder of the mother’s 3-year-old. Police said Erica Dotson’s boyfriend Josh Manns beat Jameson Nance to death in 2021, but Dotson was aware of the abuse and didn’t stop it.

A former DCF employee who was one of four people at a daycare charged with failing to report the abuse of a 3-year-old who was beaten to death days later will be on probation for the next year.

A Brevard County judge sided with prosecutors Friday, denying bond for a mother who is accused in the death of her 3-year-old son.

Three day care employees were arrested, and one other is under investigation, for failing to report child abuse that ultimately led to the death of a 3-year-old boy in West Melbourne last June, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The state attorney's office for Brevard and Seminole Counties filed a motion of intent to seek the death penalty against a mother and her boyfriend after investigators accused the pair with a 3-year-old boy's death.

A mother and her boyfriend are now formally charged in the death of a 3-year-old boy who, according to West Melbourne police, was abused for weeks.

Newly released court documents detail the case police developed against the mother of 3-year-old Jameson Nance, who officers believe was abused to death by Joshua Manns.

A mother who knew her son was being repeatedly abused and did online searches about child head injuries is now facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with the 3-year-old boy’s death, according to the West Melbourne Police Department.