Detroit mom, 20, tortured and beat 1-year-old son to death for breaking television, faces life in prison
DETROIT, MICHIGAN: A Michigan mother has been arrested and charged after the death of her one-year-old son, who died after she tortured and beat him because he pulled a TV off a table.
Rhionna Nichols, 20, was taken into custody after her son, Viston Stevenson, was rushed to the Children's Hospital of Detroit suffering horrific injuries at their home in the 19300 Block of Kentucky Street on Friday, December 6, according to Fox News Detroit.
While Nichols claimed to medics who responded to her home that she had just shaken him and hit him with a slipper, he was found to have suffered a fractured skull, swelling on the brain, a broken collarbone, multiple broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and internal bleeding. He succumbed to his injuries on December 7.
While Detroit Police have not yet revealed the details about his death or commented on the events that led up to it, but his family has claimed that Nichols attacked her son in a rage after he had broken her flat-screen TV.
Speaking about his tragic death, his aunt Kenya Stevenson said, "It's difficult to really know what to do right now just to think of the fact that I'll never be able to hold my nephew again the same way. I can't imagine what my nephew had to go through."
"It's so hard," she continued. "Everybody wants to talk to each other. Everybody wants to say something and nobody knows what to say."
A GoFundMe page set up while Viston was still in critical condition has raised $1,525 of a possible $6,000 goal. The page was later updated to reflect the news of his death, with a description reading, "On December 7, 2019, Baby Viston Stevenson gained his wings."
"He was a very, very, very, very, very happy baby," Stevenson said. "The main thing is to pray for our strength, our peace of mind, our health, and my nephew and that he's in a better place, and that he knows he was loved, regardless of anything."
Nichols has been charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse and torture in connection to her son's death. She made her first appearance in court this past Monday, December 9, and is facing life in prison if convicted.