Toddler found dead at Walmart was killed, cops say. Man arrested over 1,500 miles away
One week after a toddler died outside a Walmart in Maine, authorities announced the boy had been killed and an arrest was made — more than 1,500 miles away in New Orleans.
Before the 22-month-old’s death, the child lived with a man and his girlfriend in Owls Head, Maine, about an 85-mile drive northeast from Portland, where they recently moved, according to Maine State Police.
The man, 23-year-old Aziayh Scott, is now accused of killing the boy.
His girlfriend is the child’s mother but Scott isn’t related to him, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss confirmed to McClatchy News on June 5.
The evening of May 29, someone reported the toddler wasn’t breathing at Walmart in Thomaston, police said May 30. It wasn’t specified who made the call.
After police responded to the store, the child was taken to a hospital and declared dead, according to authorities, who launched an investigation.
An autopsy revealed the boy, identified as Quayshawn Wilson, died from blunt force trauma and his death was ruled a homicide, Maine State Police said June 5.
On June 4, detectives visited Scott’s home and discovered he and his girlfriend left for Louisiana, where Scott used to live, sometime after Quayshawn’s death, according to police.
Scott was located in New Orleans the morning of June 5 by Maine State Police detectives, Louisiana State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service Maine Violent Offender Task Force, authorities said.
He was arrested on a charge of manslaughter over Quayshawn’s death, according to police.
Information regarding Scott’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available.
Scott’s “girlfriend was with (him) when he was taken into custody,” Moss told McClatchy News.
Before Scott’s arrest, Thomaston Police Chief Tim Hoppe told The Courier-Gazette that the toddler was with his mother at the town’s Walmart before he died the evening of May 29.
She went into the store to shop without him, then returned to the parking lot and a man, who wasn’t named, helped her with her groceries, according to Hoppe, the newspaper reported.
That’s when Hoppe said she noticed her son was unresponsive, and a nurse who was in the parking lot at the time tried to resuscitate him, according to The Courier-Gazette. Then state authorities assumed the investigation.
Following Scott’s arrest in New Orleans, he was detained in Orleans Parish Prison, according to state police.
“The process to extradite Scott back to Maine for the charge of Manslaughter will now begin,” police said.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Toddler found dead at Walmart was killed, cops say. Man arrested over 1,500 miles away."
.jpg)