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Mother Doubts Man's Denial In Baby's Death

Photo courtesy of Shantil Galloway

Chavon Robinson, 22 months old, died Wednesday after suffering a brain injury. Detectives charged the child's father, Chauncey Robinson, 26, on Thursday with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

TAMPA - Before leaving her 22-month-old son with his father, Shantil Galloway said she gave the boy a kiss and a hug.

"I told him I love him and I'd see him when he gets back," she said Friday.

The next time Galloway saw her son, Chavon Robinson, he was dead.

Tampa police said the child died Wednesday after suffering a brain injury. Detectives charged the child's father, Chauncey Robinson, 26, on Thursday with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

Chauncey Robinson

Speaking by phone from Orient Road Jail on Friday, Robinson denied hurting the boy.

"I, I, I'm not that type of person," he said. "I've been around kids all my life."

Robinson said he and his fiancée, Tina Tillman, called 911 on Wednesday afternoon after Chavon made a choking noise and then appeared to be not breathing during his nap. At the time, he said, he thought the boy had suffered an asthma attack.

Galloway didn't believe him. She said police told her an autopsy showed Chavon's brain was swollen and bones in his chest were broken.

"They said he had bruises from head to toe," she said.

Police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said how the boy was injured is still under investigation.

Galloway, 23, described Chavon as "a happy baby" who loved football and his three older sisters, ages 3, 6 and 7. She said she had not eaten or slept since he died.

"That hurt me to my heart," she said.

Robinson and Tillman, who have a 9-month-old daughter together, said they regularly spent a few days a week with Chavon. They said Galloway wanted Robinson to spend more time with the boy, so they had arranged for a longer visit. Robinson picked up the child Feb. 1.

"We went to Chuck E. Cheese's, went to the park a few times," said Robinson, who works as a roofer. "He was always a quiet type. He hardly ever cries. He likes to play football."

Interviewed at home Friday, Tillman said she couldn't imagine Robinson hurting Chavon.

Tillman noted that Robinson does become absorbed in video games when watching the boy. "I really believe Chauncey wasn't paying attention to this child like he should've been," she said.

Galloway said she wanted to pick up her son Feb. 8, but Robinson asked to keep Chavon longer because the boy's paternal grandmother was visiting from out of town.

Galloway said she tried to pick up her son again Wednesday. No one was home the first two times she knocked at Robinson and Tillman's apartment at 5718 N. Lincoln Ave., she said.

Robinson then called her and "said he was going to give me my baby when he was ready," she said.

About 4 p.m., Galloway said, she and her mother returned to the Lincoln Avenue apartment to fetch Chavon. Galloway said Robinson and Tillman told them Chavon was with Robinson's mother.

Tillman told a different version of events. She said she returned home from work about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday to find Chavon lying in bed. "I thought he was sleeping," she said.

She left to pay a bill and returned a short time later. That's when she and Robinson heard the boy choking, began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and called 911, she said.

Robinson and Galloway met up at St. Joseph's Hospital, where Chavon was pronounced dead. Galloway said Robinson told her, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's my fault. He was in my care."

Between making funeral arrangements today, Galloway looked at photographs of her son taken at Christmas.

"If he would've just brung me my baby," she said of Robinson, "none of this would've happened."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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