ELLA GRACE STAFFORD & JONATHON SANDERLIN - 1 yo (2010) - Allen Park (SW Detroit) MI

The toddlers' mothers came to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office on Wednesday to identify the bodies. They both say the medical examiner told them the deaths were intentional and that he's ruling homicide.



One-year-old Ella Grace Stafford and one-year-old Jonathon Sanderlin were
both found dead Tuesday morning in their father's Allen Park apartment.
Few can imagine what their mothers are feeling. "It's so hard for me to accept," said Sarah McGee, Jonathon's mother. "It's absolutely terrible," said Taylor Stafford, Ella's mother. Just a day later, the medical examiner confirmed what they already knew. "It was intentional," McGee said. However, the way these babies died is all the more sickening. "Her skin was burnt off from scalding hot water," Stafford said. "His face is just so bad," said McGee. Ella's mother, Taylor Stafford, and Jonathon's mother, Sarah McGee, say the babies were left in the water while it got progressively hotter. McGee believes her son, Jonathon, was the intended target because his burns were more severe than Ella's. "I knew he was going to torture him from the beginning because it was already starting off in small things like beating on him, suffocating him with pillows," McGee said. Both mothers claimed they called police and Child Protective Services time and time again, but nothing was done. The 27-year-old father is in police custody. Sources tell FOX 2 he told police the babies climbed into the tub themselves and turned on the water. That's a story the mother's believed was a lie from the very start. "Two babies just don't climb in a bathtub and drown themselves," said Stafford. The father is in police custody, but he has yet to be charged. Allen Park investigators have been working all day to complete their investigative packet. It will be sent to the prosecutor's office, and we could see criminal charges sometime on Thursday.

"I knew he was going to torture him from the beginning because it was already starting off in small things like beating on him, suffocating him with pillows," McGee said.

---Sarah-HELLO??? Earth to SARAH, Hello?!?! IF you knew this, you should suffer the same punishment as this no good dumb ass.

Police expect the father of two children who drowned at Valley Spring apartment complex to be arraigned Friday in their deaths.

Police Chief Dean Tamsen said the arraignment was expected to be Thursday, but the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the deaths further before issuing any charges.

The father, 27, is scheduled to appear at 2:30 p.m. Friday at 24th District Court, Tamsen said.

The sister and brother — Ella Stafford, 15 months, and Jonathan Sanderlin, 12 months — were pronounced dead early Tuesday by Fire Department officials. The children have different mothers.

At 2:16 a.m., police received a 911 call from Valley Spring apartment complex, 11331 Old Goddard Road.

The father told police his two children had drowned in a bathtub.

He was taken into custody Tuesday and is still being held in the city’s jail. His name has not been released pending charges.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Wayne County medical examiner said two toddlers found dead in a Detroit-area apartment died from drowning and scalding.
Fifteen-month-old Ella Stafford and her half-brother, 13-month-old Jonathan Sanderlin, were found unresponsive inside the Valley Springs Apartments in Allen Park early Tuesday morning.
Ella Stafford's mother, Tayler Stafford, was called Thursday morning to the Allen Park police station for questioning. Originally she was asked to come in for 15 minutes, but she was questioned for nearly two hours, sources told Local 4.
Police said they were asking the woman pointed questions about where she was the night the children died.
Several neighbors have told police Tayler Stafford was at the home and fighting with the children's father Steven Nicholson in the hours before the children were found dead.
Nicholson is in police custody, but he has not been charged. Sources had told Local 4 that he was facing charges in connection with the children's deaths, but the Wayne County prosecutors said a warrant charging him has not been signed. The charges could include first-degree murder, felony murder and first-degree child abuse.
Allen Park Police Lt. James Wilkewitz said Nicholson, called 911 shortly after 2 a.m. and said his children had drowned in the bathtub of his apartment on Goddard Street.
When police arrived, Wilkewitz said, officers found the children dead and the apartment and hallway flooded with water.
The toddlers’ families identified the two at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday.
“I’ve never been through this before. So, my first instinct, because I know Steve Nicholson so well, was that it was done intentionally,” said Jonathan’s mother, Sara McGee.
"We just identified Ella and that was it. A black and white picture. … It just showed the face and a little bit of hair," said Stafford's aunt, April Branham.
Branham said there was visible trauma to the baby's body, but she did not want to comment further about it.
“I love you, Ella Bean. I love you with all my heart,” Tayler Stafford said.
Tayler Stafford had said she was supposed to go to a movie Monday night with Nicholson, but when he didn't call, she went to bed. The next morning, she found a missed call from him -- about the time police said he called 911.
The children's mothers said they had talked recently between themselves about concerns for their children’s safety.
In one e-mail, which Stafford printed out, she writes to McGee that she thinks the children are being abused.
“We’ve been fighting so hard to get the babies out of the house, but nobody would listen to us,” McGee said.
Police said the father had full custody of Jonathon and court-ordered visitations with Ella.
McGee said she never trusted Nicholson and didn’t want him to be
a part of raising her son, so she moved to Cadillac, Mich. She said she was contacted by the court and told that Nicholson had been given sole custody because it had been decided that she was attempting to kidnap the child by leaving the area and refusing Nicholson to see him.“I’ve been through the police, I’ve been through the friend of the court, I’ve been through Child Protective Services numerous times, and nobody would listen to me,” McGee said. “Even when I brought evidence, they didn’t do anything.”Police said the father maintains that the children somehow turned on the tub and got in.“He was such a good dad. Every time I seen him, he was feeding them or bathing them or taking care of them,” said Nicholson’s cousin, Dawn Hood.Hood said Nicholson has called family members from jail and told them exactly what happened.“He went toward the bathroom to open the door and found his baby girl on the floor and his baby son in the bathtub,” she said.According to court records, Nicholson has convictions for possessing and distributing cocaine and drunken driving. His license has been suspended numerous times.
Community Mourns For ToddlersMore than 50 people gathered Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil in Champaign Park outside the Valley Springs Apartments.The public vigil was organized with help from Allen Park police.Ella Stafford’s grandmother, Renne Demery, said Nicholson treated her granddaughter better than Jonathon, and that she had contacted Child Protective Services recently."Because over the summer, he sat him on one of the chairs on the back and the baby fell on his head and he grabbed him by the arm and yanked him," Demery said.Police said officers have been called to Nicholson’s home several times for reports of domestic abuse.Demery said she is estranged from Nicholson because he has a dependency on alcohol and has been abusive."He would drink all day. Sip on a fifths all day. I would say, 'You can't do that. When you have children you have to give up your good life. You can't do that,'" Demery said.Neighbor Candice Curcio said she often found the father roughhousing the children.
"He would push them away, like come on let's go get in the house. He was just very rough with them," said Curcio."Two little babies lost their lives and that's the long and short of it," said the Valley Springs Apartments owner Nancy Dascenzo. "I am destroyed that this could happen here, anywhere. Two little babies lost their lives."A burial fund has been set up for Ella Stafford. Donations can be made to the Ella Gray Stafford fund at any Fifth Third Bank in metro Detroit.Ella Stafford's funeral will be Friday at the Martenson Funeral Home on Allen Road. The public viewing will be from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Services will be held at the same Saturday at 10 a.m.The funeral for Johnathan Sanderlin will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Peterson Funeral Home in Cadillac, Mich. Visitation is scheduled for Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39742555

I'm almost speechless about what these darling children suffered. Of course the horror story began a couple of years ago when two irresponsible girls who must have an IQ of a cockroach decided it would be a great idea to have a druggy and a loser who sat around drinking all day as a baby daddy, and proceeded to get pregnant to him. They knew he was abusing the childen - but hey - nothin I can do about it they say to themselves - we tried to tell people - while at the same time going to the movies with him etc.
As usual, we've got extended family members and neighbours eager to tell the media about all the incidents where they saw the children being abused and about the occasional half hearted attempt some of them made to do something about it.
As is quite common these days, nobody, from family to neigbours to authorities cared enough to actually DO anything to save these babies from their suffering.

I hope this FF bast$$$ rots in hell....The mother's should be charged too. They knew their babies were being abused...why didnt they go and take them out of that house and take them to the police station or a hospital to be checked out....May they RIP.....

Kiwi, I think a cockaroach is even smarter than these two girls...obviously they were still screweing around with him...they should go to jail to...they are just as responsible for the death of these two babies...

kiwimom wrote:I'm almost speechless about what these darling children suffered. Of course the horror story began a couple of years ago when two irresponsible girls who must have an IQ of a cockroach decided it would be a great idea to have a druggy and a loser who sat around drinking all day as a baby daddy, and proceeded to get pregnant to him. They knew he was abusing the childen - but hey - nothin I can do about it they say to themselves - we tried to tell people - while at the same time going to the movies with him etc.
As usual, we've got extended family members and neighbours eager to tell the media about all the incidents where they saw the children being abused and about the occasional half hearted attempt some of them made to do something about it.
As is quite common these days, nobody, from family to neigbours to authorities cared enough to actually DO anything to save these babies from their suffering.

Couldn't agree with you more Kiwi, this just makes my stomach turn. I think the SOB and, the "mother's" should all have to take a bath in boiling water, it is the correct punishment and, if it doesn't kill them--bullets are cheap. I also think it's time child protective services started getting some punishment for not doing their jobs, it's obvious people let the ball drop here and in so many other cases. These "mothers" need to be spayed so they can't do this again.

I believe that everyone has their own right to their opinion but until you have to walk in someone else shoes then you have no right to comment on it! I believe that the babies shouldn't have suffered but it's to late for that now....does anyone think how the mothers feel or know what they feel? May spirits be with all of you, you sure need it!!! Nobody deserves to be torture or to die....because then we are just as wrong for that! How can we teach our children right from wrong.....when we as adults do not do that ourselves? CPS, the courts, and any other authority figure should really think the next time about the child or family before the money!!! That is were the fault lies and nobody will stand up until it is to late!!! There is three sides to this story: one the fathers, two the mothers, and third the truth....nobody knows what happens behind closes doors. Think the next time before you speak please!!!!

hope4life wrote:I believe that everyone has their own right to their opinion but until you have to walk in someone else shoes then you have no right to comment on it! I believe that the babies shouldn't have suffered but it's to late for that now....does anyone think how the mothers feel or know what they feel? May spirits be with all of you, you sure need it!!! Nobody deserves to be torture or to die....because then we are just as wrong for that! How can we teach our children right from wrong.....when we as adults do not do that ourselves? CPS, the courts, and any other authority figure should really think the next time about the child or family before the money!!! That is were the fault lies and nobody will stand up until it is to late!!! There is three sides to this story: one the fathers, two the mothers, and third the truth....nobody knows what happens behind closes doors. Think the next time before you speak please!!!!

I am thinking of these two precious children that were scalded to death. Their mothers KNEW, they were being abused but, didn't do enough to save them, they should have removed the children from that house. In MY OPINION, they are just as guilty as the father, they KNOW what that SOB piece of shit is but they still let him have unsupervised contact with these two babies. When you know your children are being abused you remove them from the situation and keep them safe any way that you have to, even if it means running with them, nobody was that committed to these two precious souls and they are the ones that paid the ultimate price for poor judgement from their mothers. I don't care if he had custody, if you know a child is being abused you scream from the rooftops to get something done to keep them safe. Too many of these young parents are more concerned with partying and sleeping with whoever is handy, it's time these young parents got a good dose of reality and start being charged along with the perp that commits a crime against the children.
Sorry if this offends you but, you need to step back and realize nobody stood up for these precious babies, it's time somebody did!!!!!

I totally and unequivocally agree with you AB! Shame on you hope4life!
How dare you defend these PPP mothers who knew exactly what was going to happen. They should not be one bit surprised and if your child is being suffocated with pillows you should not bitch and moan about it when they come up deceased. It's bleeding hearts like you that perpetuate this nonsense. I have no ability to feel anything but DISGUST at these two NotMoms....
I will defend to the death your right to your opinion but that does not mean that I have to acknowledge it as anything but asinine.

Children Found Dead Early Tuesday Morning; Mother Of One Child Questioned

7:22 pm EDT October 22, 2010

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- A metro Detroit man declared, "I didn't hurt my babies," after he was arraigned on murder charges Friday in the drowning deaths of his two toddlers.
Steven Nicholson sobbed as he entered the 24th District Court in Allen Park and listened as a judge read the charges against him: two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony homicide and two counts of child abuse. If convicted, he could spend life in prison.

Raw Video: Man Charged With Murder In Children's Death
Watch: Dad Accused Of Murder: 'I Didn't Hurt My Babies'

His daughter, 15-month-old Ella Stafford, and his son, 13-month-old Jonathon Sanderlin, were discovered unresponsive in Nicholson's Allen Park apartment on Tuesday -- after Nicholson called 911at about 2 a.m..
When officers arrived, Nicholson was sitting on the floor with the bodies in front of him, Allen Park police Detective Jeff Miller told a judge.

Nicholson told police that he woke up and found the kids in the bathtub but his statements are "inconsistent with evidence found at the scene," Miller said without elaborating.
The Wayne County medical examiner ruled that the toddlers died from drowning and scalding.
Nicholson was being held without bond. No defense attorney was present at the court and it was unclear if he had retained one.

“The alleged facts in this case have affected even the most seasoned prosecutors in this office," said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. "We stand ready to bring this case to justice in a court of law."

Local 4 has learned Ella Stafford's mother, Taylor Stafford, was questioned by Allen Park police in connection with the case.

Police said they asked the mother pointed questions about where she was the night the children died.
Several neighbors reported to police that Taylor Stafford was at the home and fighting with Nicholson in the hours before the children were found dead. However, police said Nicholson told investigators he was the only adult home when the children died.

Stafford said she was supposed to go to a movie Monday night with Nicholson, but when he didn't call, she went to bed. The next morning, she found a missed call from him -- about the time police said he called 911.
"Right now, I'm trying to get them to give me a polygraph test, get my phone numbers, get my phone records. They have permission to do all that," Taylor Stafford said.

Watch: Dad May Be Charged In Toddlers' Deaths
Nicholson's aunt, Sandra Kirby, told Local 4 she spoke to him on the phone while he was in police custody.
"He was broken down. He was crying, hysterically crying, and the words he said to me, 'Aunt Sandy, I did not hurt my babies. You know what those babies meant to me' and I do believe him because I seen him with them," she said.

Watch: Father Being Questioned In Children's Deaths

Watch: Mothers Of Dead Toddlers Speaking Out

“I’ve never been through this before. So, my first instinct, because I know Steve Nicholson so well, was that it was done intentionally,” said Jonathan’s mother, Sara McGee.

The children's mothers said they had talked recently about concerns for their children’s safety.
In one e-mail, she wrote to McGee that she thought the children were being abused.

“We’ve been fighting so hard to get the babies out of the house, but nobody would listen to us,” McGee said.
Police said Nicholson had full custody of Jonathon and court-ordered visitations with Ella.

McGee said she never trusted Nicholson and didn’t want him to be a part of raising her son, so she moved to Cadillac, Mich.

She said she was contacted by the court and told that Nicholson had been given sole custody because it had been decided that she was attempting to kidnap the child by leaving the area and refusing to allow Nicholson to see him.
“I’ve been through the police, I’ve been through the friend of the court, I’ve been through Child Protective Services numerous times, and nobody would listen to me,” McGee said. “Even when I brought evidence, they didn’t do anything.”

Police said Nicholson maintains that the children somehow turned on the tub and got in.
“He was such a good dad. Every time I seen him, he was feeding them or bathing them or taking care of them,” said Nicholson’s cousin, Dawn Hood.

Hood said Nicholson has called family members from jail and told them exactly what happened.
“He went toward the bathroom to open the door and found his baby girl on the floor and his baby son in the bathtub,” she said.

According to court records, Nicholson has convictions for possessing and distributing cocaine and drunken driving. His license has been suspended numerous times.

Watch: 2 Children Found Dead In Allen Park

Community Mourns For Toddlers


More than 50 people gathered Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil in Champaign Park outside the Valley Springs Apartments.

The public vigil was organized with help from Allen Park police.

Ella Stafford’s grandmother, Renne Demery, said Nicholson treated her granddaughter better than Jonathon, and that she had contacted Child Protective Services recently.

"Because over the summer, he sat him on one of the chairs on the back and the baby fell on his head and he grabbed him by the arm and yanked him," Demery said.

Police said officers have been called to Nicholson’s home several times for reports of domestic abuse.
Demery said she is estranged from Nicholson because he is dependent on alcohol and has been abusive.
"He would drink all day. Sip on a fifths all day. I would say, 'You can't do that. When you have children you have to give up your good life. You can't do that,'" Demery said.

Neighbor Candice Curcio said she often found the father roughhousing with the children.

"He would push them away, like, 'Come on, let's go, get in the house.' He was just very rough with them," said Curcio.

"Two little babies lost their lives and that's the long and short of it," said the Valley Springs Apartments owner Nancy Dascenzo. "I am destroyed that this could happen here, anywhere. Two little babies lost their lives."

A burial fund has been set up for Ella Stafford. Donations can be made to the Ella Gray Stafford fund at any Fifth Third Bank in metro Detroit.

Ella Stafford's funeral was Friday at the Martenson Funeral Home on Allen Road. Services will be held at the same home Saturday at 10 a.m.

The funeral for Johnathan Sanderlin will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Peterson Funeral Home in Cadillac, Mich. Visitation was Friday afternoon.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:I totally and unequivocally agree with you AB! Shame on you hope4life!
How dare you defend these PPP mothers who knew exactly what was going to happen. They should not be one bit surprised and if your child is being suffocated with pillows you should not bitch and moan about it when they come up deceased. It's bleeding hearts like you that perpetuate this nonsense. I have no ability to feel anything but DISGUST at these two NotMoms....
I will defend to the death your right to your opinion but that does not mean that I have to acknowledge it as anything but asinine.

Thank you Tom. How dare anybody come here and stick up for the sperm/egg donors and not the true victims. Your little "it's bleeding hearts like you" is a saying I hear everyday, dad blames them for the way things are today. Gotta say, I have to agree because, if it was one of their children or such they'd be bringing down the heavens to get justice. I swear, some people were hit in the head with an idiot stick as soon as they entered the world.

As the article states "father sobs in court"....I wonder how these two little babies screamed their little hearts out when this POS SOB put their little bodies in scalding water....I wonder how they probably fought him while he tried to slowly kill one then the other...I wonder how their little bodies thrashed in the water while he tried to drown them one at a time....GOD bless these little babies and may they find the peace they deserve in heaven.

Killing these little babies in the manner that this POS did, is the most cruelest thing I have ever read on this forum. How they must've suffered....I say he deserves the same as he did to his babies....Then the NOT-MOM's also deserve their punishment for not stepping in and protecting their children...These deaths were avoidable...No one has the right to take a life!

As a teary-eyed Steven Nicholson walked into an Allen Park courtroom Friday, he turned to his family and said he was sorry.

Nicholson shook his head and sobbed even more as 24th District Judge John Courtright charged him with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony murder and two counts of first-degree child abuse in the scalding and drowning deaths of Nicholson's 15-month-old daughter Ella Stafford, and his son, 13-month-old Jonathon Sanderlin.An Allen Park police officer told the court they received a call from Nicholson at 2:16 a.m. Tuesday that said he believed his toddlers were gone.When police arrived at Apartment 2 at the Valley Springs Apartments, they said Nicholson, 27, was sitting on the floor with the children lying in front of him. Jonathon had burns on his face and Ella, who also had burns to her body, was pale with purple lips.The officer also said Nicholson was interviewed and his accounts of what happened in the three-story apartment complex in the 11000 block of Old Goddard were inconsistent with the evidence.If convicted of first-degree murder, Nicholson faces life in prison. If convicted of felony murder, he would spend life in prison without parole. He is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail and is to be in court Nov. 1 for a preliminary examination.Before leaving the courtroom, Nicholson told his family, "I didn't hurt them. I was sleeping."Nicholson's aunt Sandy Kirby said, "We know you didn't hurt them."Other family members shouted, "We love you!"Many of his friends and relatives say they are stunned by the allegations and maintain that he was an attentive father who mostly scheduled his life around his children."He would barely take a break from his kids," said his cousin Corey Nicholson. "He stayed at home mostly and loved to cook, so I would go to his house where he played with the kids, changed diapers and took good care of them."Corey Nicholson said his cousin's apartment was filled with toys because he was always getting things for the toddlers."There is no way he could have done this on purpose," Nicholson said. "He was a very loving dad."Steven Nicholson's family said Friday they plan to hire an attorney to represent him. His mother, Rene Demery, said she did not attend the arraignment because she could not bear to hear the charges read aloud."After losing two grandkids and now my son; after losing another son five years ago, it was too much," Demery said.As a child, Demery said Nicholson was very smart and a good student despite the family moving around a lot.At 16, he began hanging with the wrong crowd, Demery said, and dropped out of Melvindale High School.Demery said Nicholson was asked to leave the house, but returned two years later after turning his life around. "He was working two jobs and doing the right things," she said.The mothers of the toddlers also did not attend the arraignment, which was held hours before Ella's visitation in Allen Park and Jonathon's visitation in Cadillac. Burials for the children are to be held today.Nicholson and Tayler Stafford, Ella's mother, had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for two years. But Stafford, 19, said they were on good terms and had planned to go to the movies before the toddlers' deaths."I feel good about the charges because hopefully justice is going to be served," she said.Family and friends of Stafford gathered Friday at Martenson Funeral Home in Allen Park. Male family members wore striped purple ties in Ella's honor.