MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Police said they arrested a man who is accused of abusing and murdering his girlfriend’s 16-month-old son in March.

The Montgomery County Department of Police said members of the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Task Force arrested Marlon Adilson Melendez, 28, of Washington, D.C. in Hyattsville, Md. on May 22.

The department said police were in the 7900 block of Chicago Ave. in Silver Spring around 4 a.m. on March 11, 2023 after there was a call about a child who wasn’t breathing. Medics took the 16-month-old boy, Zavier Giron, to the hospital where he died.

Detectives interviewed the boy’s mother who said Zavier had not been feeling well. She told detectives she got up around 4 a.m. and found that he wasn’t breathing. That’s when she called for help.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found signs of abuse after Zavier had died. Investigators found that the abuse possibly came at the hands of Melendez, who is not the boy’s biological father. The charges against him are first-degree child abuse and second-degree murder.

As of May 23, Melendez was in the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit without bond.