FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Broward County Circuit Court judge set a trial date for a man charged in connection with his son's death.
Calvin Melvin Jr. appeared in court Friday. He waived his right to a speedy trial and a judge set a May 16th trial date. His attorney also requested a continuance.
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Melvin's son Dontrell was last seen when the boy was six months old. The Hallandale Beach Police Department reports the medical examiner ruled the boy died from "violence of undetermined means."
Melvin and Brittney Sierra, the boy's mother, are both charged in connection with their son's death. Melvin is charged with three counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer and two counts of child neglect. Sierra is charged with child neglect resulting in bodily harm.
A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy discovered the boy was missing while investigating an unrelated child neglect case on Jan. 9.
Police say Melvin and Sierra blamed each other for the child's disappearance, but both told detectives where to find the child. Remains were found buried in the back yard of a home the couple rented in Hallandale Beach.
According to the Hallandale Beach Police Department, a University of North Texas DNA analysis report found "genetic data are approximately 31.2 trillion times more likely to be observed under the scenario that the unidentified remains originated from a biological child of Brittney J. Sierra and Calvin Melvin Jr. as opposed to the unidentified remains originating from an unrelated individual from any of the three major U.S. population groups."
The remains police found had blunt trauma injuries, according to Hallandale Beach police reports. But the reports indicate the injuries were caused by police officers during the recovery process.