Mother, boyfriend arrested in death of six-year-old boy in Riverside
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department (APD) has arrested two people in connection with the death of a six-year-old boy in Riverside in March.
APD says that officers responded to a urgent check welfare call on March 7 just after 8 p.m. at the First Choice Emergency Room Center on E. Riverside Drive. The caller had reported to 911 that someone had brought an unresponsive child to the ER and that they were getting mixed information as to why the child was unresponsive. CPR was in progress.
ATCEMS then transported the child, identified as six-year-old Stavian Driver, to the emergency room at Dell Children's Medical Center. Stavian succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead just before 9 p.m.
APD says that over the next several days, homicide detectives interviewed Stavian’s mother, 27-year-old Staleigh Coleman and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Blake Jones, who were both at their home on Cromwell Circle when the incident occurred. A search warrant was also executed at the home.
Pictured are the mugshots of Staleigh B. Coleman (left) and Blake Howard Jones (right). (Austin Police Department)
Due to serious inconsistencies as to how Stavian received scalding burns over 40% of his upper body, arrest warrants were issued for both Coleman and Jones for injury to a child by omission, says APD. Their bonds were set at $100,000 dollars.
Coleman and Jones were arrested on March 10 and were transported and booked into the Travis County Jail. APD says both are currently out of jail on bond.
In August, the APD Homicide Unit received the completed autopsy report from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office., which stated that Stavian’s official cause of death was ruled scald injuries and the manner of death, homicide. This report has been forwarded to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Because Coleman and Jones are currently out of jail on bond pending indictment, APD says the facts detailed in the Medical Examiner’s final ruling of Homicide will also be presented to a Grand Jury for consideration and determination of all appropriate charges.
Detectives are asking anyone with information or video of the incident to call APD Homicide at 512-974-TIPS, email homicide.apd@austintexas.gov, utilize the Crime Stoppers tip line at 512-472-8477 (TIPS), or the Crime Stoppers app. You may remain anonymous. Information leading to an arrest may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. You can also submit tips by downloading APD’s mobile app, Austin PD, free on iPhone and Android.
This is Austin's 52nd homicide of 2021.
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