Jury finds Charlotte man not guilty in 2-year-old’s death
A man arrested five years ago after the death of his girlfriend’s toddler was found not guilty by a jury on Friday, according to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office.
In 2017, 2-year-old A’dan Blackmon died with traumatic brain injury, which police at the time suspected resulted from child abuse. Christopher Sims, 30, who would frequently babysit the child, was charged with his murder.
Sims’ trial lasted 25 days. He was found not guilty on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse.
Before the child’s death, Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services visited his home twice to investigate possible child abuse, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. During those home visits, social workers “concluded his home was safe and could not verify the tips it had received that A’dan was being abused,” the Observer reported in 2017.
“We respect the jury’s verdict, as well as the efforts of our prosecutors to bring forth available evidence and to give voice to A’dan, whose life ended far too soon,” the DA’s office said in a statement to the Observer.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 5:21 PM.
