ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- A metro Detroit man declared, "I didn't hurt my babies," after he was arraigned on murder charges Friday in the drowning deaths of his two toddlers.Steven Nicholson sobbed as he entered the 24th District Court in Allen Park and listened as a judge read the charges against him: two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony homicide and two counts of child abuse. If convicted, he could spend life in prison.
His daughter, 15-month-old Ella Stafford, and his son, 13-month-old Jonathon Sanderlin, were discovered unresponsive in Nicholson's Allen Park apartment on Tuesday -- after Nicholson called 911at about 2 a.m..
When officers arrived, Nicholson was sitting on the floor with the bodies in front of him, Allen Park police Detective Jeff Miller told a judge.
Nicholson told police that he woke up and found the kids in the bathtub but his statements are "inconsistent with evidence found at the scene," Miller said without elaborating.
The Wayne County medical examiner ruled that the toddlers died from drowning and scalding.
Nicholson was being held without bond. No defense attorney was present at the court and it was unclear if he had retained one.
“The alleged facts in this case have affected even the most seasoned prosecutors in this office," said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. "We stand ready to bring this case to justice in a court of law."
Local 4 has learned Ella Stafford's mother, Taylor Stafford, was questioned by Allen Park police in connection with the case.
Police said they asked the mother pointed questions about where she was the night the children died.
Several neighbors reported to police that Taylor Stafford was at the home and fighting with Nicholson in the hours before the children were found dead. However, police said Nicholson told investigators he was the only adult home when the children died.
Stafford said she was supposed to go to a movie Monday night with Nicholson, but when he didn't call, she went to bed. The next morning, she found a missed call from him -- about the time police said he called 911.
"Right now, I'm trying to get them to give me a polygraph test, get my phone numbers, get my phone records. They have permission to do all that," Taylor Stafford said.
Nicholson's aunt, Sandra Kirby, told Local 4 she spoke to him on the phone while he was in police custody.
"He was broken down. He was crying, hysterically crying, and the words he said to me, 'Aunt Sandy, I did not hurt my babies. You know what those babies meant to me' and I do believe him because I seen him with them," she said.
“I’ve never been through this before. So, my first instinct, because I know Steve Nicholson so well, was that it was done intentionally,” said Jonathan’s mother, Sara McGee.
The children's mothers said they had talked recently about concerns for their children’s safety.
In one e-mail, she wrote to McGee that she thought the children were being abused.
“We’ve been fighting so hard to get the babies out of the house, but nobody would listen to us,” McGee said.
Police said Nicholson had full custody of Jonathon and court-ordered visitations with Ella.
McGee said she never trusted Nicholson and didn’t want him to be a part of raising her son, so she moved to Cadillac, Mich.
She said she was contacted by the court and told that Nicholson had been given sole custody because it had been decided that she was attempting to kidnap the child by leaving the area and refusing to allow Nicholson to see him.
“I’ve been through the police, I’ve been through the friend of the court, I’ve been through Child Protective Services numerous times, and nobody would listen to me,” McGee said. “Even when I brought evidence, they didn’t do anything.”
Police said Nicholson maintains that the children somehow turned on the tub and got in.
“He was such a good dad. Every time I seen him, he was feeding them or bathing them or taking care of them,” said Nicholson’s cousin, Dawn Hood.
Hood said Nicholson has called family members from jail and told them exactly what happened.
“He went toward the bathroom to open the door and found his baby girl on the floor and his baby son in the bathtub,” she said.
According to court records, Nicholson has convictions for possessing and distributing cocaine and drunken driving. His license has been suspended numerous times.
More than 50 people gathered Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil in Champaign Park outside the Valley Springs Apartments.
The public vigil was organized with help from Allen Park police.
Ella Stafford’s grandmother, Renne Demery, said Nicholson treated her granddaughter better than Jonathon, and that she had contacted Child Protective Services recently.
"Because over the summer, he sat him on one of the chairs on the back and the baby fell on his head and he grabbed him by the arm and yanked him," Demery said.
Police said officers have been called to Nicholson’s home several times for reports of domestic abuse.
Demery said she is estranged from Nicholson because he is dependent on alcohol and has been abusive.
"He would drink all day. Sip on a fifths all day. I would say, 'You can't do that. When you have children you have to give up your good life. You can't do that,'" Demery said.
Neighbor Candice Curcio said she often found the father roughhousing with the children.
"He would push them away, like, 'Come on, let's go, get in the house.' He was just very rough with them," said Curcio.
"Two little babies lost their lives and that's the long and short of it," said the Valley Springs Apartments owner Nancy Dascenzo. "I am destroyed that this could happen here, anywhere. Two little babies lost their lives."
A burial fund has been set up for Ella Stafford. Donations can be made to the Ella Gray Stafford fund at any Fifth Third Bank in metro Detroit.
Ella Stafford's funeral was Friday at the Martenson Funeral Home on Allen Road. Services will be held at the same home Saturday at 10 a.m.
The funeral for Johnathan Sanderlin will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Peterson Funeral Home in Cadillac, Mich. Visitation was Friday afternoon.
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