Charlotte man accused of killing toddler hurt another child, police say

The man accused of beating a toddler to death had a video of himself hurting another child on his cell phone, a search warrant said.

Christopher Sims, 25, is charged with murder and felony child abuse in the death of two-year-old A’dan Blackmon. He wrote a letter to the Charlotte Observer saying he’s not guilty, and in court on Thursday he mentioned preparing for a trial.

A’dan arrived at Carolinas Medical Center on June 7 with traumatic brain injuries and other injuries, the warrant said. He was unconscious, badly bruised and unable to breathe on his own.

Doctors performed brain surgery to try and save A’dan’s life, but he died from his injuries on June 8.

A’dan’s mom told Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police detectives that Sims had been taking care of her son from 11:00 a.m. on June 7 until he arrived at the hospital in the evening, according to the warrant. She said A’dan was not injured when she was with him in the morning.

Sims told detectives A’dan fell down three times during the day, but the doctor said the child’s injuries didn’t match up with that explanation.

While detectives were interviewing Sims, he let them search his phone. A video on the phone showed a sleeping toddler being slapped in the face with the child’s own hand, while someone else’s hand guided him, the warrant said. Sims told detectives the hand was his.

Documents obtained by the Charlotte Observer show that the child in the video was identified by his mother as Sims’ biological son, who is about the same age as A’dan.

Sims told police that his son always hits himself and he was trying to stop it, but the video contradicts that explanation, according to the documents.

The timestamp on the video was 10:07 a.m. on June 7, just before Sims would have started taking care of A’dan, documents said.

In court on Thursday, attorneys said they’re still looking into the case. Sims is expected to appear in court again in September.

But when he appeared in his jail uniform on Thursday, he asked Judge Robert Bell if he could be released on electronic monitoring to seek treatment for his panic attacks.

Sims’ hands trembled as he read a statement in court, saying he’s had panic attacks every day in jail and thinks something is wrong with his heart.

“I haven’t been able to stop shaking for weeks,” he said.

Sims told the judge his eyesight has been blurry or worse, and he’s fallen down a few times after blacking out.

He said he’s worried about being healthy enough for his trial.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Charlotte man accused of killing toddler hurt another child, police say."