Teen Charged In Death Of Hoover 2-Year-Old

HOOVER, AL - A 19-year-old male has been charged in the Sept. 21 death of two-year-old Levi Ellise Pointer of Hoover. Emergency personnel responded to The Retreat at Rocky Ridge Apartments regarding a medical issue with the child. Responders arrived to find the child in severe distress and transported her to Children's Hospital. where she died at 9:45 p.m.

A member of the Jefferson County Medical Examiner's Office later determined the child had a significant skull fracture. Dlonta Khalil Melton, the child's only guardian at the time of her death, was arrested by Hoover police Tuesday and charged with murder. He is being held on $50,000 bond and will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail.

Melton has given explanations as to how the child's injuries occurred, but police officials say they are inconsistent with the injuries the child sustained, and can be easily disproved. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Birmingham Patch morning newsletter.)

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