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Burgettstown man jailed in 3-year-old’s death

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A Burgettstown man is in jail on a homicide charge following the death of a 3-year-old boy who suffered injuries while in his care.

Allegheny County police are investigating the death of Aiden Lombardi, who was found unresponsive just after 6 p.m. Tuesday at his residence in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in Coraopolis. He was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he died at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

The child had been left in the care of Tyler Scott Mason, 25, of 155 Devils Den Road, who is the boyfriend of the child’s mother, Megan Meyers, according to the criminal complaint. Mason called Meyers about 6 p.m. Tuesday to tell her that her son, Aiden, wasn’t breathing.

Meyers told police that she had left her residence about 5:45 p.m. to drive a friend and her two children to Emsworth. She told police she didn’t have a third car seat, so she left Aiden in Mason’s care at her apartment, according to the complaint.

Meyers told police that as she was leaving, Aiden, who had been asleep on the couch, woke up and asked where she was going and said goodbye, the complaint said. Meyers told police he had no bruises and was acting normally when she left the home. Mason and Aiden were the only two people there.

At 5:58 p.m., Mason called Meyers and told her Aiden wouldn’t wake up and that his breathing was shallow, the complaint said. A few minutes later, he called her again “hysterical” and “distraught” to tell her Aiden wasn’t breathing, according to the complaint. Meyers called 911.

The three paramedics from Valley Ambulance Authority who responded reported the child had significant bruising and swelling on his forehead, eye, jaw and ear, and that he was in cardiac arrest. While in the medics’ care, Aiden was unresponsive, not breathing, and had no pulse, the complaint states.

Aiden was transported to Heritage Valley Sewickley Hospital, where Dr. John Coleman did a CT scan. Coleman told police that Aiden had suffered a skull fracture and subdural hematoma – injuries, he told police, that were likely “intentionally inflicted,” the complaint said.

The child was flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital, where Dr. Michael Certo also determined Aiden’s skull fracture to be an “impact injury” and “relatively acute,” according to the criminal complaint.

When detectives interviewed Mason Tuesday, he told them that Aiden “became fussy” after his mother left. Mason told police he gave the toddler water and chocolate milk before sitting down across the room from him.

He told police that sometime after, he noticed blood and a chewed french fry near Aiden’s mouth, the complaint said. Aiden was unresponsive and not breathing, Mason told police, so he performed CPR on the child and called Meyers.

Coraopolis police requested Allegheny County police assist with a homicide investigation, according to the complaint.

Police reported that they interviewed three witnesses who said they heard the child screaming that evening. The first witness told police that between 5 and 6 p.m., they heard loud screams coming from the child in the apartment, and that they “do not usually hear the child scream” like that, according to the complaint.

The second witness told police they heard the child scream four times before everything went silent, according to the complaint. The third witness told police the screams sounded as if the child was in pain.

Mason was arrested and charged with criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of children. He was arraigned Wednesday morning by District Judge Kevin Cooper and given a non-monetary bond, according to court documents. He’s being held in Allegheny Couny Jail, according to court staff. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. March 16 before Judge Michele Santicola.

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