Jury selection is underway in the death penalty trial of a West Melbourne mother charged with causing significant, fatal injuries to her 3-year-old son while claiming he drowned in a bathtub.
Erica Dotson is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse. Her boyfriend at the time, Joshua Manns, was also arrested on the same charges in connection with the death of Dotson’s son in 2021, court records show.
Jury selection, expected to take a week, is taking place in Brevard Circuit Court Judge Steve Henderson’s courtroom at the Moore Justice Center. The trial could take two weeks to conclude. If Dotson is found guilty, the jury will then make its recommendation for death or life in prison.
The death occurred at a Lago Circle apartment in West Melbourne on June 11, 2021. Dotson and her boyfriend claimed the child drowned in the bathtub. But the resulting autopsy by the medical examiner determined that the child had been subjected to three weeks of intense abuse that led to the boy’s death. The autopsy found the boy had a right rib fracture, a stab wound to the scalp, a lacerated jaw and a broken tooth. He also had a history of injuries that included broken legs, with claims from Dotson that he tripped and fell off a curb, records show.
The case drew widespread attention after it was learned that the Florida Department of Children and Families had been made aware of several injuries to the boy, including one claim that he had been attacked by a duck.
Arguments in the case could begin next week after jury selection.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Or X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Jury selection underway for West Melbourne mother in death of child, 3
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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