9-month-old killed by father

9-month-old Delray boy dies after dad throws him in canal

By Jerome Burdi of sun-sentinel.com
& bews partner NewsChannel 5
Posted April 27 2006, 4:00 PM EDT

DELRAY BEACH -- A 9-month-old boy was killed Thursday morning after his father bashed him into the hood of a car and then threw him into a canal during a domestic dispute, police said.

Delray Beach police spokesman Jeffrey Messer said the father Tyson admitted tossing his son into the canal.

"Our detectives were just dumbfounded,'' Messer said.

Here's what police said happened early Thursday morning:

Charles Edward Tyson, 20, and his partner Shameka Mosley, 17, and the baby, Charles Edward Tyson Jr., were driving from West Boca Community Hospital to their home on the 1300 block of Southwest Second Street. It was not immediately known why the couple was at the hospital.

Police said the couple began arguing and Mosley was accused of infidelity. The argument escalated and Tyson threatened to kill the baby. At Linton Boulevard and Congress Avenue, Tyson threatened to throw the baby out the window. Mosley, who was driving, talked him down.

A short time later, on the 700 block of Southwest 17 Avenue, as Mosley slowed the car, Tyson again threatened to throw the child out the window. The car stopped. This time, police said, he tossed the baby out the passenger-side window into the dirt. Mosley got out and ran to the baby. Tyson and Mosley struggled.

Tyson grabbed the baby by one leg and swung the child at the hood of the car, police said. The impact was so hard it dented the hood.

Mosley wrestled the child away and put the baby in the back seat of the car. But Tyson jumped in behind the wheel and took off.

At the Lowson bridge over the C-4 Canal, west of Congress, police said, Tyson stopped the car and took the baby out and threw him into the canal, then drove off.

"Tyson stated he was aware the infant landed in the canal because he heard a splash,'' the police report said.

He returned to Mosley and told her what he did, the report said. She began screaming so hysterically that people in the neighborhood called the police. It was 2:52 a.m.

Within a short time, police and firefighters found the baby floating in the water about 10 feet offshore and about 300 feet south of the bridge.

At 3:21 a.m., police went to the Tyson-Mosley home. Tyson exited the house, telling officers, "Take me to jail."

At 4:02 a.m., doctors at Delray Medical Center pronounced the baby dead.

Tyson is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, child endangerment and violation of a domestic violence injunction.

Police said Mosley had a restraining order against Tyson issued in December after an alleged domestic violence incident.