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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — A 30-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder after the 1-year-old child of his girlfriend died from reported abuse.
Devonte Crumel was initially arrested and booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Friday, Jan. 24, a day after the victim was brought unresponsive to DCH Regional Medical Center. According to Capt. Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office’s Violent Crimes Unit, the victim had exhibited signs of a brain injury and was airlifted to Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham.
At Children’s, medical specialists concluded that the child’s injuries were the result of physical abuse. Investigators report that the victim had been in Crumel’s care at the time they were taken to the hospital.
“Crumel could give no explanation for how the injury occurred,” Kennedy said in a written statement.
Initially, Crumel was charged with aggravated child abuse, but following the victim’s death on Sunday, the charges were upgraded to murder.
Crumel remains at the Tuscaloosa County Jail on no bond.