Timmeka Eggleton, the boy’s biological mother, killed Curtis Witcher, 3, three months after a judge removed him from his foster parents’ care after more than two years. She entered a guilty plea to that and other offenses this week in an Ohio court.
Eggleton, 31, admitted guilt on Tuesday to charges of murder, felonious assault, and endangering minors. Eggleton was arrested in Cuyahoga County last year.
A judge declared her incapable to stand trial in October of last year, but following therapy under court supervision, she was reassessed in November and found to be competent to face charges. As part of her plea deal this week, the charge of aggravated murder that she was also facing was withdrawn.
She risks a life sentence when she is sentenced on July 22.
When Witcher passed away on June 14, 2023, medical examiners determined that he had been bluntly impacted. According to the prosecution, the boy was discovered unconscious in his pram inside a Cleveland Family Dollar last year. After being taken to a nearby hospital, he was declared deceased.
People reports that medical experts informed prosecutors that the boy’s injuries “could not have been accidentally inflicted.”
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According to court documents, Eggleton was taken into custody and charged five days following Witcher’s passing. Last year, prosecutors revealed her indictment and claimed that she had first “provided false information about the events leading up to her child’s death.”
After the boy passed away, the foster parents—who remained anonymous—were interviewed by the local Fox affiliate WJW.
The foster father remarked, “Everything, he meant everything to our family,” adding that he and the foster mother had known the child since the child’s birth.
Witcher’s foster parents had concerns about the safety of his birth mother’s home, but in March 2023, Eggleton reclaimed permanent custody of the boy, according to WJW.
In a motion submitted to the court that same month, the toddler’s designated attorney allegedly claimed that Eggleton had denied him access to her home so he could perform an evaluation.
As per the motion, “I was to visit with the child outside only. I was to be accompanied by someone else and all visits must be pre-arranged, i.e. unannounced visits are not permitted. The mother was verbally abusive, beyond what is typical, speaking in a very insulting and demeaning manner, as well as swearing and being dishonest. She also stated I was not to speak to her of anything she did not want to discuss; it was not clear if she meant permanently or just on that call.”
The boy was left with Eggleton by the juvenile court judge hearing the matter, despite this. According to the source, she had finished parenting classes and received mental health treatment.
Cuyahoga County Juvenile Judge Alison Floyd determined that placing the kid with Eggleton would be “appropriate.” She gave Eggleton complete legal custody and commanded an end to the ongoing supervision.
Three months later, Curtis Witcher passed away almost exactly. When Witcher was declared deceased, a caseworker who wishes to remain anonymous. She claimed that part of the reason she quit was because of his placement with Eggleton in March.
