FROM STAFF REPORTS

A southern Iredell County man faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of his 5-week-old daughter.

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell announced the arrest of Adrian Rashaun Lyons, 25, in a news release on Friday. Lyons, who was already in custody on related charges, was being held without bond in the Iredell County Detention Center after being charged with murder on Thursday.

Maliyah Lyons died on September 21. A medical examiner determined that the child, who was airlifted to a Charlotte hospital on September 18, succumbed to injuries caused by blunt force trauma to her head, the sheriff said.

ICSO deputies and Iredell County EMS personnel responded to the suspect’s home at 405 Teeter Road near Mooresville on September 18 in reference to a call of CPR in progress on an infant.

After the child was transported by EMS, deputies then located and interviewed Lyons, who said he found the infant unresponsive and called 911, according to the news release. ICSO criminal investigators arrived on scene and started an investigation to determine what had occurred to cause the child to be unresponsive.

The child’s mother, Calinda Steinseifer, told detectives she had been asleep when Lyons woke her up, saying they needed to go to the Emergency Room because something was wrong with the child, Campbell said.

Lyons told the investigators he had fed his daughter, then put her down to sleep. When he checked on her 30 minutes later, he found her limp and unresponsive, according to the news release.

Investigators subsequently learned the infant had brain swelling, bleeding on the brain and hemorrhages, the sheriff said.

After receiving this information, the investigators re-interviewed both Lyons and Steinseifer.

Lyons told investigators he ran into a door, striking the infant’s head approximately two weeks prior, according to the news release. The baby, according to the father, would not eat, was crying a lot and twitching.

Steinseifer admitted to knowing about the incident but did not seek medical attention for the infant for fear of getting in trouble, according to the news release.

Due to the circumstances and the condition of the infant, detectives obtained felony arrest warrants for Lyons and Steinseifer.

Lyons was charged with Felony Intentional Child Abuse Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury. At the time of the child was injured, Lyons was on probation for a 2019 conviction of felony child abuse in Davie County. 

Steinseifer was charged with Felony Negligent Child Abuse Inflicting Serious Bodily Injury. She is free on a $150,000 bond.