SHELBY, N.C. — The charges against a Shelby man accused of murdering his 7-week-old son were dismissed, according to court records.
Investigators have claimed Stephen Moore III killed his son, Sincere Moore, back in 2018.
At the time, prosecutors told Channel 9 that the infant’s mother left him with his father while she prepared a bottle for the crying child, and that when she returned, the infant was having trouble breathing.
At the hospital, Stephen then posted a ranting Facebook Live.
They rushed Sincere to the hospital, where he later died. The district attorney said doctors found several injuries, including a broken leg and a lacerated liver.
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“Don’t nobody do nothing for me, my lady or my son and don’t supposed to,” he said in the video.
In the Facebook video, Moore suddenly stops as doctors ask all the family members to gather, and you can hear one person trying to comfort him. The family learned about Sincere’s injuries, which were signs of serious abuse.
Angela Byers made several videos of her newborn grandson. At the time, she told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon it’s difficult to accept that she won’t play with him again.
"Spoiled him. He was spoiled,” Byers said. "It's hard cause in the mornings I'm used to going in there seeing him, or she bring him to me. I just can't go past the room, you know, go in the room no more."
Before Sincere’s death, neighbor Roosevelt Lowe had bought a stroller and a baby carrier for him.
“It just hurts,” Lowe said. “It’s hard to describe what has happened to our neighborhood.”
Stephen’s murder trial began last week, but court records showed charges were dismissed Wednesday.
Channel 9 has asked what led to that decision. We have not heard back at this point.
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