Wandering toddler leads to discovery of murdered mother

The investigation into a toddler found mysteriously wandering the streets of Miami last month led detectives to a home in Little Haiti – and a gruesome discovery.

The child’s mother was shot to death. And her boyfriend, Derrick Barrett, was bloodied and writhing on the couch from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

After weeks recovering in the hospital, Barrett has now been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 28-year-old Natasha Bolton. He was arrested Saturday, jail records show, but remains hospitalized under corrections supervision.

The 3-year-old boy is now under state care. The child was found wandering near Northeast Second Avenue and 49th Street on the night of July 21.

At the time, Miami police issued a media bulletin looking for help finding his parents, saying the boy answered to the name “David.” He was wearing an oversized blue polo, shorts and slippers.

The following night, Miami detectives got word that the boy might have lived in a home with a broken-down Ford Mustang parked in front. Officers found the house in the 300 block of Northwest 43rd Street and knocked on the door, according to court records. There was no answer.

But through the window, they saw Barrett bleeding from the head, according to court records. Officers busted in and found him sitting on the couch, a gunshot wound to his head, a Ruger pistol at his side.

Bolton, the boy’s mother, was discovered dead on the floor.

It is unclear whether Barrett, 46, is the boy’s father, and how the child made his way to the streets.

A witness later told Miami homicide detectives that Barrett, on the night the child was found, was seen at a nearby park beating Bolton around 7:30 p.m. He angrily grabbed her by the neck and left, the child in tow, court documents allege.

A neighbor told police that gunshots sounded around 8 p.m. The boy was found on the streets just after 9 p.m.

Barrett is no stranger to the law. According to court records, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a murder in the late 1980s, and has been arrested nearly two dozen times since his release, mostly on drug and traffic charges.

This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Wandering toddler leads to discovery of murdered mother."