NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - An 11-month-old child was pronounced dead nearly an hour after arriving at an emergency room in Newport News. Two adults were charged with Felony abuse/child neglect.
The child was home alongside his 4-year-old sister before arriving at the hospital. According to a Probable Cause Statement provided by the Newport News Police Department Homicide Unit, the child sustained an injury to the left side of his head that caused significant swelling.
Early afternoon on September 3, 2022, Porshea Evans, her two children, and her boyfriend Dequan Foreman went to a friend’s home to celebrate the weekend. At the friend’s home, Evans and Foreman drank alcohol and smoked marijuana then left between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. to go home.
Reports say the children were left at home for no more than an hour. Evans and her boyfriend went to pick up Foreman’s car from the mechanic before returning home to find the 11-month-old child unconscious in his bedroom. Foreman believed the child was asleep telling police that he picked the child up and could tell he was snoring.
After placing the child back into his bed between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., Evans and Foreman went to their bedroom. Foreman woke up in the morning between the hours of 4 a.m. and 6 p.m. and went to check on the children.
Upon checking he noticed that the 11-month-old child was in the same exact position that he’d been left in and told Evans. She noticed his skin was cold and proceeded to put another blanket over the child and went back to her bedroom with Foreman.
Waking up and checking on the children again around 9:30 a.m., Foreman saw the child was still in the same position. He noticed the child was not breathing and had no pulse. Foreman alerted Evans again and the two took the child to the emergency room at Riverside Regional Medical Center.
Reports say that prior to speaking to police, the 4-year-old girl told Evans and Foreman that the 11-month-old had fallen off the bed. While the two were unable to validate the statement they assumed that is what happened.
Based on statements given to Police, the only time that the 11-month-old could have fallen off the bed was while Evans and Foreman were not at home. The child’s bed had netting on the sides to prevent him from falling.
The facts given in the probable cause statement led authorities to believe that Dequan Foreman willfully failed to provide necessary care for the children.
Porshea Tonika Evans was arrested September 4, 2022, and charged with Felony abuse/neglect of a child and Contribute to the delinquency of a minor.
Dequan Foreman was charged with Felony child neglect.
Doctors told authorities that the child had no other injuries that were consistent with abuse.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
