MIAMI, Fla.- Miami detectives got a little help from a wondering toddler last month in the discovery of his murdered mom.
Police investigated a little home in Little Haiti where they found the toddler’s mom shot to death. They also found the mother’s boyfriend, Derrick Barrett, bloodied and withering on the couch from an apparent self0inflicted gunshot to the head.
Barrett was taken to the hospital where he spent weeks recovering. According to court records he was arrested Saturday and is being charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 28-year-old Natasha Bolton. Barrett remains hospitalized under corrections supervision.
The 3-year-old toddler is now in state care. The boy was found wandering near Northeast Second Avenue and 49th Street on the night of July 21.
Before the gruesome discovery, police were posting bulletins looking for the boy’s parents. They said he answered to “David” and was found wearing a large blue polo with shorts and slippers.
The following night Miami detectives had gotten a tip that the boy lived in a house on the 300 block of Northwest 43rd Street with a broken down Ford Mustang in the drive, but when police knocked there was no answer.
Through the window police were able to see Barrett bleeding on the couch with a Ruger pistol beside him.
At the time it was unclear if the boy was Barrett’s, 46, son and how the boy got into the streets.
A witness told Miami detectives that on the night of the boy being found Barrett was seen beating Bolton at a nearby park around 7:30 p.m. According to court documentation, Barrett grabbed Bolton by the neck and left with the boy in tow.
Neighbors told police they heard gunshots around 8 p.m. and the boy was found in the street a little after 9 p.m.
According to court records, Barrett was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a murder in the late 1980’s. He has since been arrested nearly two dozen times on drug and traffic charges.
