Hearing Postponed In Levittown 2-Year-Old's Death

MIDDLETOWN, PA — A court hearing set in the gunshot death of a 2-year-old boy in Middletown has been postponed, authorities said Wednesday.

Jorddan M. Thornton, 27, of Philadelphia, had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Thursday in the death of his son, Julius Thornton. But a spokesman for the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said the hearing has been continued to January.

The elder Thornton is charged with child endangerment in the toddler's Dec. 2 death, with prosecutors saying that other charges are possible.

Even after charging Jorddan Thornton, investigators continued looking into the case, saying that it remained unclear how the boy was shot and what role his father played in the shooting, which happened at Racquet Club Apartments and Townhomes on Veteran Highway in Middletown Township.

According to a criminal complaint from Middletown Township Police, officers were called to the apartments at 8:49 p.m. on Dec. 2 when a 911 caller said a child there had fallen and hurt himself.

There, they found Thornton standing outside and holding a young boy with a bleeding head wound. A responding officer believed, due to his military background, that the child was suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the police affidavit.

Thornton told police he had been watching television with his son and fell asleep. He said the boy had been jumping on a bed and that he may have hit his head on a headboard, according to the affidavit.

He also told officers that there were guns in the apartment, but that they had been put away, police said.

Julius was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he was declared dead a short time later. A doctor at the hospital also said the injury was consistent with a gunshot wound to the head, according to the complaint.

The day after the shooting, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said investigators were still considering whether Julius shot himself, his father accidentally shot him or his father shot him on purpose.

"All potentialities are still on the table, where this could have been a malicious or intentional infliction," Weintraub said at the time. "We just don't know."

A spokesman for Weintraub did not say Thursday whether a decision has been made on additional charges.