WBAL.com

Police investigating whether a child was thrown from the Key Bridge say the boy’s father is facing homicide charges.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police spokesman Corporal Jonathan Green says Stephen Todd Nelson is in police custody at the University of Maryland Medical Center tonight.

Police have been investigating the case since late Sunday night — when they received a 911 call about the possibility that a child had been thrown from the bridge.

Green says police have witnesses saying they saw a vehicle matching Nelson’s on the bridge late Sunday night.

The boy — 3-year-old Turner Jordan Nelson — is still missing.

Green says police will continue search efforts in the area of the bridge in Baltimore.

WBAL TV 11 News has learned that a custody battle may be the reason behind an all-out search for a missing toddler in the Patapsco River over the last three days.

Sources told 11 News reporter Kate Amara that Turner Nelson, 3, hasn’t been seen since Sunday when he was visiting his father.

According to Baltimore city police, a woman called 911 shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday night from a home on Walbrook Avenue saying that her son had thrown his 3-year-old son, Turner, from the Key Bridge while strapped to his car seat. The woman added that her son had been having issues with the child’s mother.

11 News confirmed that the man in question is Stephen Todd Nelson, 37, when Amara knocked on Nelson’s door and asked for his mother on Tuesday. Amara was told his mother was “too distraught to talk.”

Nelson is listed in critical condition at University Hospital after reportedly trying to harm himself sometime that Sunday night, Amara said. Sources revealed to 11 News that Nelson drank a concoction of household cleaners.

According to Baltimore County police, Turner’s mother has also called 911 three times within an hour Sunday night to report that Nelson had threatened to throw the boy off a bridge.

Maryland Transportation Authority police spokesman Cpl. Jonathan Green said the agency has a marine unit out looking for a body, if there is one. He said authorities are putting their full effort into the investigation.

While the three-day air and sea search by law enforcement has turned up empty so far, a search of court records revealed there was a tussle over Turner’s custody, Amara reported.

According to court records, Nelson asked for increased visitation last summer, writing, “I would love to have my son with me as much as possible.”

Sources familiar with the case told Amara that they believe there is a chance the child is alive.

Related:
Report: child thrown from Key Bridge