Police: Trinity woman woke to find man in home, child kidnapped

Jul. 19—A Decatur man was arrested Wednesday after police say he unlawfully entered the home of a Trinity woman and, when she noticed him, grabbed her son, brought him into the bathroom and locked the door, according to the Trinity Police Department.

Melvin Nickson Jr., 41, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and third-degree criminal mischief, according to police. He remained in the Morgan County Jail on Thursday with no bond pending a Friday morning Aniah's Law hearing.

Morgan County 911 received a cellphone call at 7:46 a.m. that was traced to the 300 block of Lamon Drive, according to Director Jeanie Pharis. Trinity police arrived on scene at 7:53 a.m.

The woman at the home told officers that she woke to find Nickson inside and she started panicking, according to an affidavit signed by Sgt. Markus Solomon.

"Melvin then picked up (the child) and took him into the bathroom against his will and locked the door," the affidavit reads. When officers announced their presence, Nickson opened the door and asked who was there. They spoke "for a brief period of time" before Nickson came out of the bathroom, according to the affidavit, and the child ran toward his mother.

Police later discovered that the gate to the home's property had been broken some time after the child's father left for work at around 6:30 a.m., according to the affidavit. Court records show Nickson lives about a half-mile away from the home in Braxton Court, a quiet suburban neighborhood in Decatur's police jurisdiction.

The child was unharmed and uninjured, and Nickson had no relationship with the family, according to a Trinity police press release. They thanked Decatur police for their assistance. Decatur police did not respond to inquiries.

A neighbor on Lamon Drive said Thursday that Nickson suffers from mental health issues.

Alabama law states a person does not commit the crime of first-degree kidnapping, a Class A felony, if he or she "voluntarily releases the victim alive, and not suffering from serious physical injury, in a safe place prior to apprehension." The burden of arguing voluntary safe release is on the defendant, and it does not apply to second-degree kidnapping, a Class B felony, or any other crime.

Nickson pleaded guilty to three counts of distribution of a controlled substance in 2019, according to records, and was ordered by Morgan County Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell to five years in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections; however, he was also ordered to complete substance abuse treatment and mental health treatment. If completed, according to a handwritten annotation, Nickson would be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence with Morgan County Community Corrections.

In April 2020, Nickson began fighting with staff at Morgan County Jail following his arrest on an outstanding warrant, according to a deputy's affidavit. After Nickson was "sprayed and tazed," he produced "baggies from his rectum" containing 2.8 grams of meth, according to the affidavit.

In April 2022, Nickson pleaded guilty to the charge of promoting prison contraband and was sentenced to 87 months in state prison, court records show, to be served concurrently with his punishment in Madison County. In Madison County, Nickson had pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance in February 2021, was marked a habitual offender, and sentenced to a 97-month split sentence with jail credit, 16 months on electronic monitoring, with 24 months suspended, according to the sentencing order.

Kidnappings in this area are rare. In April, a 19-year-old Decatur man was rescued in Arab after he was allegedly kidnapped by two men who told him they were bringing him to his girlfriend to work out their relationship. The victim managed to text 911 during transport, and authorities were able to trace his location.

During a Lawrence County home invasion last November, three suspects allegedly kidnapped a woman after killing her husband. She later ran from her captors when they tried to force her to withdraw money from an ATM.

A Hartselle man was arrested in June 2023 and charged with first-degree kidnapping after he allegedly locked a woman in a shed for three days and sexually assaulted her.

A mother and daughter were each charged with capital murder and kidnapping after the body of a Hartselle woman, missing since December 2021, was discovered in Little River Canyon National Preserve in Dekalb County last year. The mother and daughter are accused of kidnapping the victim and pushing her off a cliff.

— david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.