COLUMBUS, Ohio — The mother of a 2-year-old boy has been arrested by Florida authorities after being charged with the boy's murder.
According to documents filed in Franklin County Municipal Court, Tina Dayton was charged in March after Clifford "Jace" Stark III died last year.
According to Columbus police, Dayton was arrested on March 30 by the Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force, a division of the U.S. Marshal Service.
On October 7, a 911 caller reported Jace was blue, barely breathing and had a broken arm.
Jace, who had turned 2 years old just days before, was rushed to Nationwide Children's Hospital. He died the next day, on Oct. 8, 2019.
A Columbus police report shows Dayton reported she believed Jace fell off while jumping on the bed. But the hospital's trauma surgeon disputed that report, according to a search warrant.
According to the criminal complaint filed with the court, Jace had internal bleeding which was discovered at the hospital.
Hospital social workers said Jace had bruises on "various parts of his body" and suspected he was the "victim of child physical abuse," according to the search warrant.
The autopsy and coroner's report released earlier this year showed Jace had extensive injuries, ranging from bruises on his forehead to a cut on his lip and a severely broken arm.
The coroner ruled his cause of death was from multiple blunt force trauma and that it was a homicide.
