Share
A 22-year-old Charlotte man has been charged with murder in the death of a 2-year-old boy Tuesday at a southwest Charlotte motel.
Some witnesses say the suspect was the boy's father.
Late Tuesday night, police charged Andre Earl Hampton with murder, in the death of Elijah Burger, who was three weeks short of his third birthday.
Homicide detectives said they determined that Elijah had suffered "blunt force trauma" before his death.
Police say they were called about 6:45 p.m. to the AARCS Suites, in the 4400 block of South Tryon Street. Officers found a child unresponsive and not breathing. Medic took the boy to Carolinas Medical Center, where doctors tried CPR and other treatments to revive him. But the youth, Elijah, died.
Elizabeth Dickerson, a resident at the hotel, described an emotional scene Tuesday evening.
"I saw the mom when they brought him out," Dickerson told NewsChannel 36, the Observer's news partner. "She was screaming and crying, 'Oh my God, not my baby!'
"She came out screaming. It gives me chills all over."
Jawone Carr said he watched as Medic crew members tried to revive the child.
"I'd seen paramedics come out with the little guy in their arms," Carr said. "He was limp, like he was passed out or something. He had whips all over his body."
Residents at the hotel told reporters that they believe the suspect was the child's father. They said the family had lived at the hotel for only a month or two.
The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office jail Web site shows that Hampton was arrested in April and charged with assault on a female. It is not clear if that case ever was tried.
Hampton faces an initial court hearing at 1 p.m. Thursday.
NewsChannel 36 contributed.
