But the child neglect charges were dropped after Melvin pleaded guilty to the three counts of giving false statements, and his sentencing will commence on September 18.
The remains of the child, who had been missing since July 2011, when he was 5
As New Times reported in 2013, the boy, Dontrell Melvin, had never been reported missing, and his disappearance wasn't discovered until a routine check by a child welfare investigator in January of that year.
According to Hallandale Beach Chief of Police Dwayne
When an investigator asked Melvin where the child was, he told them he had taken the boy to live with his grandparents in Pompano Beach. When investigators interviewed the grandparents, they told authorities they had no idea what the investigator was talking about.
Upon returning to Hallandale Beach to question Melvin further, the investigator couldn't find him anywhere. When he was found a day later, Melvin's story had changed. He told investigators he had dropped off his son at a Miami Gardens fire station as part of the Safe Haven program. But according to authorities, Melvin eventually changed that story too.
Sierra gave cops a similar story, telling them that she had left the baby with her parents, who don't live in Florida. But police don't buy her story either.
Days after the baby was discovered, investigators positively identified the remains as Dontrell.
Melvin and Sierra were arrested and charged with child neglect resulting in bodily harm and had been facing up to 15 years in prison.
After she was arrested, a then-pregnant Sierra asked a Broward judge to reduce her $100,000
Sierra's child-neglect charges were eventually dropped.
