The child’s father was arrested after detectives reviewed medical findings and interviewed him.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — What began as a medic call for an unresponsive baby became a homicide case after an 8-month-old boy died at a Charlotte hospital and his father was charged, police said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Ethan Mato Acosta-Palos was found May 3 after officers responded to Kirt Court. He was taken to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Three days later, he was pronounced dead. Investigators said the child’s injuries were caused by nonaccidental trauma.
The case shifted after homicide detectives joined Crime Against Children detectives. Police said the original incident happened in the 3000 block of North Sharon Amity Road, not at the Kirt Court location where first responders were called. The area is in CMPD’s Hickory Grove Division, in east Charlotte.
Nieves Alexander Acosta-Maldonado, 27, Ethan’s father, was identified as a suspect May 13. Police said detectives interviewed him at the Law Enforcement Center and arrested him after that interview. He was booked on charges of murder and felony child abuse and taken into the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Court documents described in local reports said Acosta-Maldonado told investigators he was alone with the child while the baby’s mother was working. Investigators said he described the baby as fussy and sick. The documents said he told detectives he put the child back into a crib forcefully, dropped him and shook him for 10 to 15 seconds before the child stopped crying.
Medical findings cited in the reports included head trauma and eye injuries. Investigators said the Atrium Health Child Protection Team advised that the injuries could have come from shaking or from forceful impact to the head. Police have not released a full autopsy report, and several details about the minutes before the 911 call remain unknown.
CMPD said the investigation is active and ongoing. The department said additional information will be released as it develops. The next steps include continued review by homicide detectives and court proceedings in Mecklenburg County on the murder and felony child abuse charges.
As of Friday, Acosta-Maldonado remained the only person publicly charged in Ethan’s death. Police said the case is tied to report number 20260503-1119-01.
Author note: Last updated May 15, 2026.