Darwin Reid awaits sentencing after being convicted of child abuse and neglect and criminally negligent homicide in the 2016 death of a 4-year-old Zion Croom.
Reid's sentencing was postponed after his defense attorney noted that the risk and needs assessment in his pre-sentencing report was two years out of date.
Renicka Croom, Zion's mother, left Zion and her 3-year-old son at her home with Reid on Feb. 26, 2016. When she left, Zion appeared normal, health and active, according to court documents.
Reid called Croom around 2 p.m. that day to tell her that he could not wake Zion up. When Croom returned to the home minutes later, she found Zion inside the house, unresponsive on the floor.
Police
said in March 2016 that Reid did not attempt to seek medical assistance for Zion, though paramedics stated Zion's body temperature was significantly lower than average and they found vomit at the house — evidence the child exhibited symptoms of an injury.
Reid left the house while Croom called for emergency medical attention, returning only to pick up some items before leaving again.
He was arrested in Jackson on March 9 by the U.S. Marshals Service after hiding from law enforcement for several days.
Zion was taken to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, where doctors put him on life support. He was flown to LeBonheuer Children's Hospital in Memphis, where he died due to bleeding from the brain. A pediatric doctor at LeBonheuer testified in March 2016 that Zion's injuries were "suggestive of abusive head trauma."
