Detectives from the New Castle County Division of Police have charged 30-year-old Mercedes Ferguson of Wilmington with Murder by Abuse following a child death investigation.
The investigation into the incident began on August 18, 2023, at 1:24 a.m. after a 9-1-1 call was made from a home in the unit block of Court Drive in the community of Greenview at Chestnut Run in reference to CPR on her 4-year-old son.
Patrol Officers from the New Castle County Division of Police, New Castle County Paramedics, and Emergency Medical Services responded to the home and provided first aid to the Victim, who was identified as her 4-year-old son.
The 4-year-old was later pronounced deceased and his body was turned over to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science who conducted an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. An autopsy was conducted by the Delaware Division of Forensic Science which ruled the death was homicide through starvation according to police.
On March 8th, 2024, after reviewing the case with the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, detectives obtained warrants for the arrest of Ferguson. She was taken into custody on March 11th, 2024, at a home in New Castle.
Ferguson was transported to New Castle County Police headquarters where she was charged with one felony count of Murder by abuse or neglect first-degree recklessly caused the death of a child.
She was arraigned at the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and committed to the Delores J. Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution after failing to pay $1,000,000.00 cash bail.