A 31-year-old convicted felon charged in the death of a 17-month-old toddler, pawned items belonging to the deceased child’s mother, according to investigators.
David Earl Vickers is facing a variety of charges including aggravated child abuse, 2nd-degree homicide and grand theft. He is currently being held without bond at the Manatee County Jail.
A Holmes Beach Police Department report filed in August indicates Vickers sold a stereo and a laptop computer taken from the home of Luca Sholey’s mother. The suspect called 9-1-1 from a residence in the 200 block of Peacock Lane on the night of August 21st to report Luca was not breathing.
Vickers told investigators that the boy was knocked down a flight of stairs by an older sibling. He was serving as the children’s caregiver, appointed to that role by their mother. Luca was transported to Blake Medical Center and later airlifted by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg where he was declared brain dead two days later.
Detectives working the case say Vickers pawned the items as the boy’s mother held vigil at his bedside. A medical examination and autopsy determined Luca had a variety of injuries consistent with abuse.
Vickers was officially charged with his death on Wednesday. He was arrested on grand theft and giving false information to a pawn broker charges in August.
The suspect is no stranger to law enforcement with a criminal history in Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. He has served one stint in state prison for a 2011 dealing in stolen property conviction out of Hillsborough County.
At the time of his arrest Vickers admitted to using heroin on the day Luca was injured.
