YORK COUNTY — The mother of Dante Mullinix, the 2-year-old boy who police said died of traumatic brain injury accompanied by strangulation and suffocation, in mid-September, has been charged with endangering the welfare of children, court documents show.
Leah Mullinix, 22, was unable to post bail Thursday and has since been confined to York County Prison, according to court documents.
The single felony count stems from an incident from September 6.
On September 20, the York County District Attorney’s Office announced criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children charges against 39-year-old Tyree Bowie in connection with Dante’s death.
Police received a report from York Hospital staff around 10:30 p.m. on September 6 that a man, later identified as Bowie, dropped the unresponsive child off at the hospital.
Dante was transported to Hershey Medical Center, where he died eight days later.
According to the criminal complaint, Bowie allegedly admitted to police on September 7 he was the one person caring for the boy when he stopped breathing, adding that he fed Dante animal crackers in the area of the 700 block of North George Street and noticed the child was not breathing as he approached the area of South George and East Maple Street. That’s when Bowie rushed the boy to the hospital.
The child’s mother, Leah, spoke with FOX43 on September 18. She told FOX43 that she left Dante with a babysitter, Bowie, because she had a migraine and was going to the emergency room. Leah said that at the time she was dropped off, her child was fine, FaceTiming him around 9 p.m. on September 6.
“And then he FaceTimed me again after 10 p.m., flipping out saying, “he’s not breathing, he’s not breathing,’ and then I was just like, ‘call the ambulance, bring him to the hospital or something because my son needs medical attention.’ I told him that multiple times and then he finally brought him in. My son was completely limp, he gave him to a nurse, and then he took off,” Leah told FOX43.
