Ala. mom pleads not guilty to allegedly abusing and torturing 15-month-old son to death

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ala. (TCD) -- A 28-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the death of her toddler son, who succumbed to blunt force trauma-related injuries two years ago.

WHNT-TV reports Jordan Ellan Harmon entered the plea April 4. She’s currently in custody at the Lawrence County Jail on charges of murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse, and chemical endangerment of a child with a bond of $1.68 million.

On April 11, 2021, Lawrence County deputies went to the intersection of Highway 24 and County Road 214 and found Harmon performing CPR on her child on the floor of her minivan. The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office said an ambulance arrived and transported the 15-month-old boy, Emery Michael-Knox Wilson, to Decatur-Morgan Hospital. The boy was then taken to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham.

Emery died April 13 from his injuries.

Lawrence County deputies arrested Harmon on April 12 for aggravated child endangerment, and she posted bond several months later in September.

The autopsy showed Emery suffered blunt force trauma to the head and he had "abrasions, contusions, and lacerations to the scalp, a depressed skull fracture and a fractured left forearm."

The boy also reportedly had cannabinoids in his system.

On Jan. 25, 2022, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office brought Harmon’s boyfriend, Travius Coleman, in for questioning and arrested him for two counts of child abuse, one count of chemical endangerment to a child, and murder. Harmon was arrested the next day on the same charges.

According to WHNT, a grand jury indicted the couple in March on a charge of felony murder. Court documents cited by WHNT allege the couple shook, hit, and struck Emery. They are also accused of "inflicting blunt force injuries on more than one occasion."

Court documents allege Coleman and Harmon did "torture, willfully abuse, cruelly beat, or otherwise willfully maltreat" Emery.

Harmon allegedly did not seek medical care for her son. The court document says Emery had "serious injuries that required medical attention and treatment, including, but not excluding injuries to his head, arm, and groin area on at least three separate occasions."

MORE:

• Lawrence County woman pleads not guilty near second anniversary of toddler son’s death - WHNT
• Lawrence County Jail inmate information
• Press release, 1/26/2022 - Lawrence County Sheriff's Office
• 15-month-old who died from blunt force trauma had cannabis in system; mom, boyfriend arrested, 1/26/2022 - TCD