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Levon Tyrese Wameling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Levon alone on the front porch of his apartment was the worst mistake Jevon Wameling could make, and then not reporting the May 29 late night disappearance for nearly two weeks only made things worse. Wameling physically climbed a tree in his backyard to pull himself into a second floor window to unlock the front door. As he had left his nine month old son Levon in a carrier seat on the front porch, with a blanket pulled over him to hide him from any strangers. But by the time Wameling came back downstairs to open the door, he said the carrier seat was still there, the blanket was pulled off and Levon was gone.

 

 

 

 

Aug. 31, 2012 - Sept. 6, 2013

 

Age: 9 Months

Location: New York

Suspect in death: Jevon Wameling, Father

Wameling said he spent the next days trying to find Levon himself. He started talking to neighbors he had never talked to before, while looking around their yards and homes for any signs of something suspicious. But Wameling said he never mentioned his missing son, because he didn’t want to “spook” anyone who might know what happened. Wameling’s own past troubles with the law over the years had made him somewhat cautious of police. Then finally, after two weeks Wameling realized he couldn’t find Levon himself and had to tell police, even if it meant they would throw him in jail. That decision to wait so long, however, is part of the reason some people and law enforcement think Wameling isn’t telling the truth about what happened. Since he came forward June 11, police have spent every day for the past week searching the streets and yards of Utica for any clues of Levon’s whereabouts.

 

Utica and Oneida County police searched throughout the summer for the Levon. After nearly four months a body was found by police divers on September 6, 2013 in a container at the bottom of the Mohawk River. The body identified as baby Levon.

In early September 2013 Wameling told police that he had dumped Levon’s body in the Mohawk River. Wameling said he panicked and was “scared out of his mind” when he put his son's  body in a container, filled it with rocks, and sank it in the river. An autopsy on the body of Levon Wameling found he suffered a one inch skull fracture. Wameling said that Levon fell off of the couch, causing the skull fracture that the medical examiner found on his body. Jevon entered his guilty plea on November 27, 2013.

 

This is not the first time that questions have been raised about the welfare of a child associated with Jevon Wameling. In 2005 a thirteen day old baby was found dead on its mother’s chest. It appears that the mother was sleeping next to Jevon Wameling, who was also sleeping when the baby’s maternal grandmother discovered that the baby was not breathing. The autopsy report lists the official cause of death as suffocation.  It was thought to have been accidental.  No charges were filed nor was Jevon said to be alone with the child when the incident occurred.

 

Wameling was charged with second degree manslaughter and sentenced to 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison, which was the maximum sentence for his conviction. Concurrent to the sentence for manslaughter Wameling will also serve a nine year sentence for unrelated conspiracy and burglary convictions. He is charged with one count of burglary in the second degree and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree. The burglary charge carries a five year prison sentence and the conspiracy charge is two to four years. He was being held for both of these.

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