Franklin County Sheriff Steve Thomas today released some information about the recent death of a 3-year-old child.
Emergency personnel were called to a report of a child who had fallen down a stairway at a home on Williams Bridge Road at a Toccoa address in Franklin County on Aug. 10.
Medical personnel arrived and found the child to be unresponsive. Franklin County Emergency Medical Services transported the child by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center. The child then was flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
On Aug. 12, the child was pronounced dead at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. An autopsy was scheduled on Aug. 15, with local investigators present at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner’s Office.
Willie Deshone Spencer, 48, of Toccoa was arrested and charged with first-degree cruelty to children, according to Thomas.
“The preliminary investigation determined that the toddler had injuries that were identified as physical child abuse,” a statement from Thomas dated today, Aug. 21, reads.
The investigation into the cause of death is continuing, according to Thomas.
