Man Arrested In Florida For Death Of Falls Twp. 22-Month-Old Boy

A Falls Township man has been arrested in Florida on charges that he was to blame for the December 2018 death of a 22-month-old boy inside an apartment.

Shawn Robert Felmey, 45, will be extradited from Florida on charges of criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday afternoon.

According to an arrest warrant filed this week by the Bucks County Detectives and Falls Township police, Felmey was to blame for the homicide of 22-month-old Brandon Warner in a two-story, three-bedroom unit in the J building at the Commons of Fallsington last December 18.

Law enforcement said that Felmey lived in the apartment with four other adults and five children, including his girlfriend, her son Brandon and daughter, and Felmey’s two kids.

Falls Township and Bucks County detectives traveled to Florida this week after the arrest warrant was filed with District Judge Jan Vislosky’s court on Monday. Felmey was taken into custody with the assistance of local officers in Melbourne, Florida, which is not far from Cape Canaveral.

Police and medics rushed to the apartment late in the morning of December 18, 2018, for the report of an unresponsive 22-month-old boy. Although responders worked on Brandon’s lifeless body, their efforts were futile and a doctor at Jefferson Hospital Bucks County pronounced the child dead, court papers stated.

A responding officer reported seeing Brandon with swelling on his right eye, the right side of his head, and blood and vomit on his face and chin. The child’s leg was also cold to the touch.

The call for help was made by Felmey’s 47-year-old cousin who lived in the apartment. Police said she was alerted to the boy’s injuries by Felmey.

An autopsy conducted by Dr. Ian Hood determined Brandon died of inflicted head trauma and ruled the death a homicide.

Hood noted in his findings that Brandon had been alive for a few minutes to an hour after suffering his trauma, adding it appeared to have happened in the early morning hours. The autopsy reported that the injuries to Brandon would have required “substantial strength” and could not be carried out by a child.

Felmey’s girlfriend had been at work overnight and returned home to find her daughter was asleep and that she had missed the start of school. She did not immediately go downstairs to check on Brandon after waking her daughter for school, assuming the child had been checked on by Felmey, a common occurrence in the past, police said.

According to others in the apartment, Felmey deviated from his usual routines in the hours before Brandon was found. He also was in the only one reported to have gone downstairs where the child was sleeping, police said.

While speaking with detectives, Felmey said he has anger issues while drinking, which he had done December 17 into December 18, police said.

Investigators said Felmey had lied to them about his actions during the time when it is alleged Brandon suffered his life-threatening injuries.

Court papers list a timeline of alleged events and said that Felmey had been angry early in the morning after finding out his cousin went to 7-Eleven without him. Felmey reportedly admitted to going in the basement of the apartment around this time. He also may have gone to the basement more times in the hours that followed before 9-1-1 was called.

Brandon’s mother, who was Felmy’s girlfriend since July 2018, told investigators she noticed the boy had strange bruises around his face in the month leading up to the death. When she confronted Felmey, he denied ever hurting the boy, police said.

Another adult living in the apartment said he had noticed Felmey being rough with the toddler twice and also saw unexplained bruising on the child, police said.

Brandon’s identical twin brother, Dylan, died in July 2017. An autopsy at the time said the fatality was caused by sudden infant death syndrome, the coroner’s office said.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.