Fayetteville toddler killed in January sustained extensive injuries, autopsy reveals.
The night before a Fayetteville mother came home from work and found her toddler dead in bed, the child had been in the care of the relative who stands accused of inflicting his numerous injuries, court records reveal.
According to the Fayetteville Police Department, Deborah Nichelle Vanburen, 31, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of the toddler, identified in court records as 19-month-old Aniel Tilus.
The arrest warrant states that Aniel was being cared for by Vanburen when he sustained the fatal injuries Jan. 5.
According to the autopsy report, the 26-pound boy had lacerations in his mouth and on his lip, abrasions to his nose, lip, face and scalp, contusions on the forehead, face and chest, extensive bleeding between the brain and skull, bleeding in the eyes and spine, brain swelling and rib fractures. The cause of death is listed as blunt-force injury of the head and torso.
The autopsy states the babysitter reported last seeing the child alive and playing with his 6-year-old autistic brother at 9 p.m. and that when she checked on the baby about 10:30 p.m. he was sleeping facedown in his brother's bed. Photos that she allegedly took of the sleeping child and sent to the parents were timestamped 1:38 a.m. and 2:03 a.m., the autopsy said.
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The document states that Aniel was found unresponsive about 7:45 a.m. by his mother when she returned home from work.
The autopsy noted that Vanburen allegedly told a detective that the baby had fallen out of his playpen two days earlier, possibly sustaining a cut on the top of the head and redness on the lip.
"While there was a report of a fall (from the playpen) on 1/4/23, the documented injuries ... are highly suspicious for an inflicted injury that occurred (suddenly) ... and would be more than (is) expected from a fall from climbingover the playpen's wall onto carpeted floor. Therefore, the manner of death is classified as homicide," the autopsy concluded.
Charge of animal cruelty
Court records show that when Vanburen was arrested July 26 in the child's killing, she was also served with warrants charging assault with a deadly weapon and animal cruelty in an unrelated incident in 2020 involving a horse and rider.
More: Fayetteville brothers charged with murder in Saturday slaying
According to the arrest warrant in that case, Vanburen is accused of intentionally ramming her vehicle into a horse in the Big Lots parking lot at 3915 Ramsey St.
The rider told police that on June 21, 2020, the driver of a silver Jeep was taking photos of him as he rode his horse, Snowflake, when the Jeep driver suddenly, "launched her vehicle onto the horse," causing injury to the animal, the warrant said. The female driver apparently left the scene, according to the record, and an officer later identified the driver as Vanburen. The report states she admitted to being in the parking lot but denied hitting the horse.
Vanburen is currently being held in the Cumberland County jail without bail.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Autopsy: Slain Fayetteville toddler sustained extensive injuries
