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Duquesne Mother Charged in Infant’s Death
Medical examiner says child died from head injury
By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
January 11, 2024
Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A Duquesne woman is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond in connection with the death of her three-month-old son from a head injury.
Alisha L. Parker, 26, is charged by Allegheny County police with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children in connection with the death on Sunday of Dal’von Means.
County detectives allege that Parker was intoxicated at ther time of her baby’s death, and that an autopsy indicated the infant had a skull fracture that could only have been delivered by someone with the strength of an adult.
Police allege Parker attempted to blame the infant’s death on her other child, age 3, who she described to detectives as “jealous” and “dangerous,” telling investigators the other child “gotta go.”
According to a criminal complaint, Duquesne police and McKeesport Ambulance Rescue Service were dispatched to a home on Hemlock Alley near Viola Avenue just before 2 a.m. Sunday when a caller reported a child was not breathing and unresponsive.
Dal’von Means was pronounced dead approximately a half-hour later in the emergency room at UPMC McKeesport hospital, police said. Doctors observed bruising and swelling from a head injury, police said.
Detectives questioned Parker’s roommate, who said she went to work about 3 p.m. Saturday. According to the complaint, the roommate told detectives she called Parker at about 11 p.m. Saturday and could hear the baby crying loudly in the background.
The roommate returned home just before 1 a.m. Sunday, found Parker drinking tequila, and “had a bad feeling,” so she asked to see the baby, the complaint states.
She told police she found the baby face down in Parker’s bedroom, the complaint states. The child was stiff to the touch and not breathing, she told police.
The roommate told police no adults had been in the home for several days other than Parker and herself, the complaint states.
When detectives spoke to Parker in the emergency room about the child’s injuries, police said, Parker allegedly told them, “If there’s anything that happened out of the ordinary, my 3-year-old child did it, and ya’ll need to do something about that ... she’s the last person to see him alive and she’s been doing little jealousy, little things.”
Parker later told police, “I’m sorry to say that’s my kid and all, but if she did something to my son, she gotta go.”
According to a forensic examination, the baby’s injuries could not have been inflicted by a 3-year-old child, police said.
Parker was arrested Wednesday night and arraigned Thursday morning.
Court records indicate that at the time of her arrest, Parker was free on bond in connection with a July 14 incident in Wilkinsburg. In that case, Parker is charged by Wilkinsburg police with simple assault, criminal mischief, institutional vandalism, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct.
Originally published January 11, 2024.
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