Dad investigated in deaths of two children (Tampa, Florida)

TWO children--a 17-month-old and a 5-month-old--died while Dad MICHAEL ERVIN, JR. was babysitting. Mom was at work. Geez, we need decent child care in this country. And maybe there are certain daddies who need to find jobs and get away from the toddlers and babies. Then maybe a few more moms could stay home.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/21/detectives-found-marijuana-pills-fathers-home-duri/news-breaking/


Pot, pills found in dad's home during dead babies investigation
By RAY REYES The Tampa Tribune
Published: August 21, 2009

TAMPA - A bag of marijuana, several pills and drug paraphernalia were found inside the Valrico home of Michael Ervin Jr., the man who brought the apparently lifeless bodies of his two children to Brandon Regional Hospital on Aug. 13, according to court documents.

Hillsborough County sheriff's detectives also took into evidence baby food, formula, clothes and blankets belonging to 17-month-old Dionna Ervin and 5-month-old Kaden Warren, a search warrant affidavit states.

The babies had elevated core body temperatures and were pronounced dead at Brandon Regional after Ervin took them into the lobby of the hospital's women's center about 3 p.m. on Aug. 13, detectives say.

There were "no observations of sustained trauma," the search warrant states.

Ervin told detectives that started watching over the children at the home, 3807 Ridgeview Place, Valrico, about 9 a.m. on Aug. 13 while the mother, Enidlin Warren, was at work, the documents state.

The babies were in separate cribs or bassinets, and Ervin told detectives he noticed after an unspecified amount of time that Dionna and Kaden were not moving, according to the search warrant.

Ervin told detectives he took his children into his mother's blue 2007 Honda Accord and drove them to the hospital. The sheriff's office received a call about the two children at 2:56 p.m.
Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway declined to comment on the items mentioned in the search warrant, saying only that the investigation into the children's deaths is ongoing.

Detectives are still determining if a crime occurred. No charges have been filed and no arrests have been made in the case.

Investigators with the Florida Department of Children & Families are assisting sheriff's detectives, DCF spokesman Terry Field said.

The warrant lists 26 items taken from the home, including marijuana found on a TV in the living room, a plastic bag with two white pills, a plastic container containing pot and seeds, and several unspecified pills in the linen closet, bedroom and living room.

Detectives also took baby clothes, pillow cases and "Dora the Explorer" bed sheets. The search warrants listed only items seized from the house and not the car.

A woman answering the phone at Ervin's home declined comment.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office said the final autopsy reports on the children won't be available for 8-10 weeks.