In a troubling development from Gloucester County, New Jersey, a man and a woman have been charged in connection with the 2024 death of a 2-year-old toddler. Identified as Amanda Schools, 35, and Tyler Sullivan, 28, the suspects are facing severe legal accusations after the child, who was found unresponsive last June, subsequently passed away at a local hospital. According to NBC Philadelphia, these charges include aggravated manslaughter, reckless manslaughter, and endangering the welfare of children, with police finalizing arrests the week of January 27.

Last June, Woodbury City Police officers responded to a distressing call from the 400 block of Deptford Avenue for an unresponsive child, attempts at life-saving measures were unable to revive the toddler, named in an online fundraiser as Ashton. FOX 29 reports that the months-long investigation has yet to disclose specific details surrounding the child's death or the suspects' relationship to him.

Further condemning details emerged as authorities found methamphetamine in proximity to the child's crib in a bedroom shared by Schools and Sullivan, as well as evidence of physical trauma on the boy's body. "The toddler had bruises on his body and was in cardiac arrest when Woodbury police were called," an affidavit stated, underscoring a scene fraught with indications of abuse. This information comes from NJ.com, which also references an autopsy revealing the boy died of a ruptured blood vessel above the kidney.

Adding to the grim findings, a toxicology report disclosed the presence of amphetamine and methamphetamines in the boy's blood. Schools, who is reported to be the mother of five and Sullivan, her partner, were arrested and held in Salem County Jail. As for the accused, no attorney information was immediately available, while saddened friends and family have set up a GoFundMe to honor Ashton's memory, his brief light extinguished too early and under harrowing circumstances.