Overview
- Family members found the unresponsive 1-year-old still buckled in a car seat at a Brookwood home after they could not reach the father, and emergency crews were called about 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
- Investigators say the child's father, 30-year-old Logan Keith Chewning, had sole care that day, admitted drinking at several points, and left once to buy alcohol.
- Court records released May 23 say the child was left in a vehicle exposed to full sun for at least seven hours on a day with mid-90s temperatures and showed severe discoloration when found.
- Chewning was charged with manslaughter and is being held without bond under Aniah’s Law while the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit continues its probe and presents evidence to a grand jury.
- Authorities have sent the child’s body for autopsy and ordered blood testing for the father, and prosecutors have said forensic and toxicology results will guide whether charges rise to felony murder.