A 3-year-old boy who was found dead last month in a South Tacoma apartment covered in bruises, cuts and burns allegedly inflicted by his mother has been identified by the medical examiner.
Prince Lewis of Tacoma died Feb. 12 in an apartment in the 3200 block of South Mason Avenue, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office said in a news release issued March 6. The cause and manner of the toddler's death is pending further investigation, according to the office, but murder charges filed against his mother, 25-year-old Ivey Lewis, alleged that a preliminary autopsy found he died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
Lewis remains in custody at Pierce County Jail, where she's being held in lieu of $2 million bail on charges of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder.
The woman was reportedly under the supervision of Child Protective Services when her son died, according to charging documents. Records state the child had been returned to her from foster care six months prior.
Tacoma Police Department officers were dispatched to the mother's apartment when a friend who visited after the Super Bowl noticed the toddler appeared cold to the touch and called 911. Lewis told officers her son was unresponsive in a bedroom. Officers put the toddler on the floor and attempted CPR, records state, but the boy was stiff and had no pulse.
Interviewed by detectives, Lewis was asked why she didn't call 911 earlier. She allegedly said she didn't call 911 when she found him unresponsive because she didn't know what to do.
