Investigators believe the boyfriend of a babysitter charged in the death of a Sandy Springs toddler was present for the abuse that ended her life.
Two-year-old Fallon Fridley died Dec. 10 after sustaining a skull fracture and multiple internal injuries the day before. Sandy Springs police have accused her fulltime babysitter, 29-year-old Kirstie Flood, of murder in her death, which a medical examiner ruled homicide by blunt force trauma.
According to an arrest warrant obtained Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Flood’s live-in boyfriend Jeffrey Scott Meyers, 28, was in their Monterey Parkway apartment when the alleged abuse took place. Prosecutors will attempt to hold him responsible for her death on second-degree charges of murder and cruelty to children.
“After reviewing the totality of the information gained during the investigation, specifically the timeline of the infliction of the injuries to the time that the child was incapacitated was moments, Mr. Meyers was present and witness to the alleged abuse,” Sandy Springs police officer William Delaney said in the warrant.
Fallon was found unresponsive Dec. 9 at Flood’s apartment. The toddler was rushed to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta location, where she was pronounced dead, according to police.
Flood, who is mother to an 8-month-old son and 4-year-old daughter, was arrested two days later. She initially told police the toddler hit her head on a slide at a park, and she put her to bed because she was acting strangely when they returned home, according to the warrant. She didn’t wake up.
Flood said she and Meyers tried to put the child in a cold bath in order to shock her awake before attempting CPR and calling 911. Police arrived just before 9 p.m.
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
The warrant describes extensive bruising all around the child’s head, on her abdomen and on her elbows, arms and legs. Her internal injuries were more severe.
According to the doctor who treated her, “a child with those types of injuries would not physically be able to walk around or function. This indicates that the injuries were inflicted relatively close to when the child was found.”
At 6:38 p.m., investigators found Flood had searched her cellphone for “mental help,” “l hit my child and feel guilty,” “What does it mean to have a sudden urge to beat a child that’s not yours,” “What type of people enjoy abusing other peoples children” and “Why do people abuse.”
The searches were made over the course of one minute, police said.
Meyers told investigators he was home for several hours before Fallon was found unresponsive, which Delaney said was corroborated by neighbors’ statements and video surveillance taken inside the apartment. While they do not believe he physically harmed the child, Delaney said he “had a duty to protect the child from the assault and intervene on her behalf.”
“Mr. Meyers appeared on video interacting with the child in a loving manner, and by his own admission, the child victim was like a family member,” the officer said. “By his inaction, the child sustained multiple injuries that resulted in the child victim’s death.”
Meyers has been held in the Fulton County Jail since Jan. 6 on charges of probation violation. A judge denied him bond on the murder and cruelty to children charges Wednesday.
Bond was also denied for Flood, who is being held on charges of malice murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated battery and multiple counts of felony murder.
