A Columbia mother and her boyfriend gave different answers to Howard County Police about what caused bruises on her daughter’s face or how the 3-year-old came to ingest a bottle of melatonin.

A year after the child’s death on March 28, 2025, Kathleen Amesbury, 28, and Dale Brown Jr., 25, of Hanover, Pennsylvania, face first- and second-degree felony child abuse charges and two misdemeanor child abuse charges in Howard County.

Police initially said they were pursuing second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and neglect of a minor for the couple, but those charges were not filed. The State’s Attorney’s Office is still reviewing the case, spokeswoman Yolanda Vazquez said in an email Wednesday.

Amesbury and Brown are represented by the Howard County public defender’s office, which did not return a message requesting comment Wednesday.

According to partially redacted charging documents, it was Amesbury who called 911 two days before her daughter’s death to report that she had vomited in her sleep and was not waking up. Staff at Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center contacted police after observing bruises all over the girl’s head and body. She was later transported to Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore due to the severity of her injuries.

A scan showed “tremendous” brain swelling and two subdural hematomas on both sides of her head, documents state. She also had bruises, some of which appeared consistent with fingertip markings, on her cheek, chin, neck, abdomen, ribs, hip and knee.

The documents reference an autopsy report, which listed the cause of death as homicide from blunt force injuries including multiple contusions on the face and hemorrhages of the scalp, brain, spinal cord and both eyes. Melatonin did not appear to be a factor in the death, the documents noted.

Police interviewed Amesbury and Brown multiple times, in the hours after the 3-year-old was taken to the hospital and in the weeks following her death. They both said the child seemed unusually tired the day before she was taken to the hospital. The girl was autistic, they said, and tended to “flail” around, suggesting her injuries came from an episode.

However, investigators noted growing inconsistencies in their statements. During a third interview with police, Amesbury said her daughter was sleeping all day because she had ingested a bottle of melatonin.

Brown said he found the bottle on the floor, and Googled what to do about melatonin ingestion but didn’t tell investigators about it because he forgot, according to the documents. In another interview, he told authorities that he shone his phone’s flashlight into the girl’s eyes and discovered one pupil was larger than the other.

Amesbury gave drastically different explanations for her daughter’s injuries to police and family members they interviewed, authorities said. She allegedly attributed a facial bruise to rough play with her 5-year-old daughter. She suggested that the injuries occurred when she tried to shake her awake. She said the girl was hospitalized due to a heart infection, which caused her to stop breathing. Later, she said the girl fell, potentially twice, from a bunk bed, the documents state.

Police interviewed an individual, whose name was redacted, who said Amesbury’s 5-year-old child opened up about how her mother would “beat us up in the bathtub,” the document states.

Investigators obtained warrants to seize Amesbury’s and Brown’s cell phones at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Amesbury allegedly threw her phone to the ground, which police said was an attempt to destroy it, causing significant damage to the device.

In March 2025, Brown texted Amesbury ,“tell that bitch go sleep,” and ”tell em go sleep." Amesbury responded, “they are asleep.” On another occasion, he texted that he felt bad he had to “bust” the 3-year-old’s butt after she dumped some water. Amesbury responded that the girl was probably shocked he “popped” her.

“Bah definitely went to hard I left a small hand print in her butt,” Brown texted back.

The day before the 911 call, Brown told Amesbury in a text message that the girl was “knocked the fuck out” and “I mean like I went in there shook her and nothing.” Later that afternoon, he sent Amesbury a screenshot of ammonia inhalants on Walmart.com.

Amesbury’s phone showed internet searches for “smelling salts” at 2:43 p.m. and “what to do for melatonin overdose” at 6:58 p.m. Brown’s phone showed internet searches for “what if a child eats adult melatonin” at other similar searches through 11:11 p.m.

Police said they obtained Facebook messages between the couple in which Amesbury said, “this is all gonna fall on me,” and that she “failed as a parent.” Brown told police that Amesbury called the 3-year-old’s death “a blessing in disguise.”

Amesbury and Brown are being held without bond.