Murder charge for man in Montville child death

Criminal charges were upgraded Thursday to murder on an Irvington man, who is accused of beating his girlfriend's 3-year-old son with a belt and forcing him into an ice-cold shower in a motel room at the Knights Inn in Montville, authorities and a family friend said.

Maurice Pearson, 28, who has alternately lived in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and Irvington, was first charged on April 10 with severely beating the little boy that day in a motel room where he, the child's mother, Nicole Reagan, 25, and the toddler temporarily were staying.

The boy, identified by family friend Tara Jones as Ty'mil Solomon, died of his injuries Monday at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson. The child's death was not announced publicly until a release was issued Thursday by Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Montville Police Chief Rudolf Appelmann.

Jones, a close friend of the toddler's mother from Altoona, said Thursday that Reagan's fiance, Willie Shakeit Solomon, the biological father of Ty'mil, was murdered in Altoona on Oct. 31, 2013. Maurice Pearson was a good friend of Solomon, and he and Reagan later became romantic. Pearson began referring to Ty'mil as his "step-son," authorities said.

Jones said that Reagan and Pearson temporarily were living at the Knights Inn on Route 46 in the Pine Brook section of Montville while they searched for more permanent housing.

Jones said that Reagan told her that the child wet himself while eating in the motel room on April 10, and that Pearson became angry, forcing the boy to stand in the shower with ice-cold water dousing him. He then allegedly beat the boy with a belt. Shortly afterward, the boy began to convulse, and Reagan put her fingers in the boy's mouth to stop him from choking, Jones said.

A motel resident heard screams or a commotion and summoned help, with Fairfield police first on the scene to the report of a male choking. Jones said the boy was declared brain dead on Monday at the hospital, but he was kept on a ventilator for a day or so, so that his heart, liver and kidneys could be harvested for transplantation.

"Nicole is doing OK, she's staying strong," Jones said. "She had trusted him (Maurice), and she was in a vulnerable position."

Pearson originally was charged with aggravated assault on the boy, aggravated assault on Reagan, endangering the welfare of a child and providing false information to police by first identifying himself as Lloyd Pearson. His bail originally was set at $100,000 cash, it was increased Thursday to $1 million cash, bond or property, by state Superior Court Judge William J. McGovern III in Morristown.

The additional charges against him are murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Members of the Montville Police Department, Morris County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit and Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit, the Morris County Sheriff's Office's Criminal Investigation Section and the Fairfield Police Department assisted in the investigation.

The Prosecutor's Office said the investigation is active and ongoing and no other information would be released at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Crimes Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office at 973-285-6200, the Detective Bureau of the Montville police at 973-257-4113 or Morris County Crimestoppers at 973-267-2255.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@njpressmedia.com