Woman arrested on child neglect charge in death of 7-year-old

CLEARWATER — Police arrested a 33-year-old woman Sunday on charges of child neglect in the death of her boyfriend’s 7-year-old son.

Shantay Belcher called 911 at about 8:45 a.m. to report that her boyfriend’s son, Kyrie Gordon, was unresponsive, according to the Clearwater Police Department.

Rescuers arrived at 1450 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave to try to revive the boy. He was taken to Morton Plant Hospital and pronounced dead at shortly after 10 a.m.

Detectives said Belcher had put the boy in a cold-water bath and left him there for 12 hours. She checked on him a few times overnight and found him non-responsive, but did not call the police, the agency said.

At about 8 a.m., when she realized Gordon was not breathing, she called the boy’s father at work. She called 911 shortly after he came home.

Belcher told detectives she should have called for help sooner and didn’t know why she hadn’t, the agency said.

She is being held in Pinellas County Jail in lieu of a $20,000 bail. The Department of Children and Families is also investigating.

This is a developing story. Stay with tampabay.com for updates.