Byron McDonald II Suspected In Killing 2-Year-Old Son's Mother, Grandmother, Police Say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 2-year-old boy is safe after being the center of an Amber Alert Monday. His father was arrested and is suspected in the deaths of the child's mother and grandmother.
Police took Byron McDonald II into custody Monday afternoon outside the Aloft Hotel near Philadelphia International Airport. Two-year-old Byron McDonald was found safe and unharmed in a hotel room.
The little boy is in police care tonight and for now, seemingly unaware of the tragedy happening all around him.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, cbs3 cameras were rolling as 2-year-old Byron pointed to the cameras outside Aloft Hotel near the airport, as Philadelphia police were installing a car seat in the back of their car to take him into protective custody.
Just before that, a man by the same name, Byron McDonald II, was taken into custody, considered to be a person of interest in the death of the toddler's mother and grandmother.
"We're looking at both homicides at this point," Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Joel Dales said.
The boy's grandmother, who police sources identify as 50-year-old Tamara Aikens, was killed Friday on North Bancroft Street. Balloons and teddy bears adorn her front door where you can still see the bullet holes.
"I did hear the shots," neighbor Tiffany Williams said.
Neighbors describe the woman they call "Miss Tam."
"She would ask me every time I seen her, 'how's your mom doing? Tell her I said hi,'" Williams said.
Monday morning, the boy's mother, who police sources identify as 25-year-old Morgan Braxton, was also found dead in a home on North 8th Street.
"We also later learned that the decedant had a 2-year-old child that was unaccounted for at the time," Dales said.
That began an Amber Alert to find the little boy, who police tracked to a hotel room on the fifth floor. When they arrived, they found the little boy, McDonald II and his mother, whose name has yet to be released.
"I didn't see him but my coworker, she said she seen the guy when he checked in with the bald head. I don't think she noticed the son but she definitely seen him," employee Jasmine Fripps said.
SWAT teams peacefully took McDonald II into custody along with his mother, who is believed to have booked the hotel room. No one was injured.
Right now, an investigation is underway and we're still waiting to hear from police about a possible motive.
CBS3's Alicia Roberts reports.
