NEW CASTLE Man faces charge in boy's death

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A former Youngstown man has been charged in the death of an 11-year-old New Castle boy who died two years ago.
Alfred K. Paige, 38, who is serving time in a state prison, is expected back in Lawrence County this week to face a charge of criminal homicide in the May 7, 2000, death of Andre Tolbert of Neshannock Avenue, New Castle.
District Attorney Matthew Mangino said the boy's death was a result of a head injury he suffered when he was 2 months old.
Paige was apparently watching the boy for the infant's mother, who was at work, on Nov. 5, 1988, when the boy was struck in the head, suffering a skull fracture, brain trauma, bleeding and swelling. As a result, Andre was severely debilitated until his death in May 2000, Mangino said.
The district attorney said New Castle police investigated the matter in 1988, but no charges were filed.
The matter was brought up again last year by the Lawrence County Death Review Board, a multiagency panel that reviews all infant and child deaths in the county, Mangino said.
"They had some concerns after they met and contacted the New Castle police and began another investigation," he said.
Body exhumed
Andre's body was exhumed and an autopsy was performed April 3, 2002, by Dr. Karl Williams in Ellwood City Hospital. Williams decided that the head trauma was not an accident and that the boy's death was a result of that trauma.
Paige is now in the State Correctional Institute in Coal Township northeast of Harrisburg on unrelated charges. Mangino would not say why Paige is in prison.
However, Lawrence County Common Pleas Court records show that Paige pleaded guilty to aggravated assault charges in 1999 and was sentenced to two to four years in prison. Police said he stabbed his landlord in the head and neck during an argument.
Court records show Paige formerly lived on Rosewood Avenue in Youngstown and most recently lived on Pearson Street in New Castle.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2002/oct/03/new-castle-man-faces-charge-in-boys-death/