Father charged in blunt force trauma death of 3-year-old daughter
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- Murder charges have been filed against 24-year-old Trevion Shaver for the death of his three-year-old daughter in October of 2020.
According to the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit, at about 12:50 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2020, a man drove up to the emergency entrance to Memorial Hospital in South Bend and motioned hospital staff to his car.
In the vehicle, medical staff found an unresponsive three-year-old child. Medical staff say once they had the child clear of the vehicle, having said little to nothing, the man drove away.
Initial assessments indicated the child had very serious head injuries that were 'manifesting neurologically'.
The child died on Oct. 15 without ever regaining consciousness.
Police say that shortly after the child was dropped off at the hospital, her mother arrived and told officers and medical staff that her daughter was supposed to be with her father, Shaver, for most of the last several days.
The mother says she last saw her daughter at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 12 and that the girl was a little tired but seemed fine overall.
Roughly two hours later, at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 13, police say Shaver called the mother to tell her that their daughter was at the hospital and that she should go check on her.
Police say Shaver changed his story several times, saying that he had sprayed Bactine on the child's skin and she had an allergic reaction, or that after the young child wet herself, he tried to give her a bath, but she went limp and hit her head on the bathtub, or that she fell out of a car.
According to police, Shaver also told the mother that he had gone 'overboard' in disciplining the child.
A forensic pathologist's autopsy determined that she died of a brain injury due to blunt force trauma, and that her death was a homicide.
The pathologist also determined that the fatal injuries were sustained during the time period which the mother and other witnesses say that the child was under Shaver's supervision.