Police: Duquesne mom who blamed her infant’s death on 3-year-old daughter abused her, too

A Duquesne mother already accused of killing her infant son faces new allegations that she severely injured her toddler daughter that same night, according to charges filed Wednesday by Allegheny County Police.

Alisha Parker, 26, was charged earlier this year with homicide in connection with the death of her 3-month-old son, Dai’von Means. Parker had been home alone that night with her Dai’von, her 3year-old daughter and the 1-yearold son of her cousin.

Her cousin, who police identified only as “witness 1,” was living with Parker at the time. She was the one who found Dai’von around 2 a.m. Jan. 7, cold, stiff, and wedged between a makeshift bed and a window air-conditioning unit.

Parker was charged with homicide the same night.

New charges allege she also hurt her 3-year-old daughter that night, too.

“Mommy hurt my head,” the toddler told the witness, according to the criminal complaint against Parker.

The witness said the toddler had white foam around her mouth and scratches on her face, according to the complaint. She said she was thirsty.

The witness repeated what the toddler had told her: “Mommy hurt your head?”

The child said yes, the witness told police.

“Did mommy hurt the baby?” the witness asked.

Yes, the girl said again.

The toddler was examined the next morning at Children’s Hospital, according to the complaint. Her infant brother had been pronounced dead shortly after he was found the night prior.

Doctors noted scratches on the child’s forehead, swelling in her eyelids, and petechiae on her left upper and lower eyelids and side of her head. Petechiae are round, pinpoint spots on the skin caused by bleeding.

In a report to investigators, doctors wrote that the petechiae indicated the girl might have been abnormally positioned for some amount of time or otherwise had her breathing restricted, according to the complaint. That, combined with her other injuries, could also indicate she’d suffered blunt force trauma.

In interviews with investigators, Parker allegedly tried to blame

Dai’von’s death on the 3-year-old.

“If there’s anything that happened out of the ordinary, my 3year-old child did it and ya’ll need to do something about that,” she allegedly told Allegheny County police detectives when they interviewed her at UPMC McKeesport. “She’s the last person to see him alive and she’s been doing little jealousy, little things — evaluate that girl.”

Parker’s cousin had left the house — she’s only just moved in with Parker a few days earlier — about 3 p.m. to go to work, according to the criminal complaint. She called Parker shortly before 10 p.m. when she was on her way home. She said Parker told her to “come get your little cousin” because “she keeps breaking things.” The witness said she heard the toddler crying in the background. When she told Parker to calm down and leave the girl alone, she told investigators, Parker hung up.

Arriving home, the witness checked on her own child and went back downstairs to have a drink with Parker, according to the complaint. The witness said Parker became sick and, as Parker sat on the stairs drinking a bottle of water, the witness got “a bad feeling” and went to check on Dai’von and the 3-year-old.

The toddler was sleeping on a torn cushion near the window — which the witness told police was where the girl always slept, according to the complaint. As the witness began tossing blankets around searching for the infant, Parker “did not leave the staircase,” the person told police.

Parker told investigators she put Dai’von to sleep around 11 p.m. and he was fine.

She said her daughter was jealous of the baby but told investigators she’d never seen the toddler do anything to Dai’von.

“Dai’von was smiling before he went to bed, and that’s why I feel like that little [expletive] girl had something to do with it,” she allegedly told police. “I’m sorry to say, that’s my kid and all, but if she did something to my son, she gotta go.”

As Parker left, police said, she told them, “Guess what, I’m gonna go home and [expletive’] drink more.”

In addition to the previous homicide charge, Parker is now also charged with three counts of aggravated assault, children endangerment and reckless endangerment. A pre-trial conference in the first case is set for next week.