INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — Authorities in Union County have charged the father of a 2-year-old boy who died while in his care Sunday afternoon.
Alden Whitehead has been charged with First Degree Murder and Class B2 Felony Child Abuse Inflicting Serious Injury.
The mother of Louis-Charles Gilbert Chenier called the Union County Sheriff’s Office around 12:45pm when she went to pick up her son at Whitehead’s Senconee Drive home and found him unresponsive in a bedroom floor.
The boy had been with his father since Friday, according to deputies.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office says the child’s death was being treated as “suspicious” until the medical examiner could confirm how he died. On Monday, those results revealed Chenier died of blunt force trauma.
The boy’s father was initially taken into custody on unrelated warrants dealing with failure to appear in court, according to deputies.
This is an ongoing investigation. Check back for updates.
