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Woman says she warned DCF months before infant killed

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 29, 2006

DELRAY BEACH - A woman told state child abuse investigators her grandson was in danger six months before the infant's father threw him into a canal and left him there to die, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Joanne Mosley, the child's maternal grandmother, called the state Department of Children and Families and Delray Beach police in October because she questioned whether her 16-year-old daughter and Charles Edward Tyson could care for Charles Edward "C.J." Tyson Jr., according to the Palm Beach Post. She said her daughter has learning disabilities and seizures.

C.J., who was 2 months old at the time, had been in Mosley's care since birth. Police said the grandmother called them Oct. 3 when the infant's parents tried to take him for the night. Authorities told Mosley the parents had custody of C.J. and were free to take him whenever they wanted, according to police reports.

Police officers and fire rescue workers examined the child and found no signs that the baby was hurt, Delray Beach police spokesman Jeff Messer said.

"Nobody could conceive the way in which this child ended up dying," Messer said.

Mosley called DCF the next morning and told them Tyson had tried to grab C.J. from her arms.

A DCF investigator took an incident report and contacted police, but did not file charges because there was no evidence that he had been injured, according to records.

In April, Tyson tossed C.J. from a car, slammed him onto the hood and then threw him into a canal, police said. Tyson was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, child endangerment and violating a restraining order.

A message left Sunday for a DCF spokeswoman was not returned.

[Last modified May 29, 2006, 05:30:24]