25-year-old Adrian Rashaun Lyons of Teeter Road in Mooresville is now facing a felony first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of an infant on September 18 of last year. At that time, Iredell County Deputies were called to Lyons’ residence where C.P.R. on an infant was in progress. The child was taken to a local medical facility.

The child’s father, Adrian Lyons, said he found the infant unresponsive and called 9-1-1. The child’s mother, Calinda Steinseifer, was interviewed by Investigators, who said she was asleep when Adrian Lyons woke her up and said they needed to go to the emergency room because something was wrong with the child. Adrian Lyons told Investigators he fed the baby, then put her down to sleep. He checked on her 30 minutes later and found her limp and unresponsive.

Medical staff told Investigators the infant had brain swelling, bleeding on the brain, and hemorrhages. They described the injuries as “un-accidental brain trauma.” The infant was airlifted to Levine’s Children’s Hospital.

Investigators re-interviewed both parents. Lyons admitted running into a door and striking the infant’s head approximately two weeks prior. He said the baby would not eat, was crying a lot, and twitching. Steinseifer said she knew about the incident, but did not seek medical attention for the infant for fear of repercussions.

After further investigation, Lyons was initially charged with felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and Steinseifer was charged with felony negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Yesterday (February 23), a completed autopsy report was received from the Medical Examiner, which stated that the infant’s death was caused by blunt force trauma from assault. Based on that report, Lyons’ charges were upgraded to felony first-degree murder.

Lyons remains in the Iredell County Detention Center where he is now being held without bond. He will appear in Superior Court Monday (February 27) on the original charges with a District Court date on the murder charge set for March 15. Steinseifer has a Superior Court date scheduled for April 10.