Cynthia Robinson and Frank Walton Sr. won back custody of their son, Frank Jr., in May 2025, Delaware County prosecutors said Tuesday.
Six months later, the 2-year-old was dead, and the bruises and cuts that covered his young body told the story of the abuse he had been dealt in the weeks leading up to his killing, according to First Assistant District Attorney Kristin Kemp.
Robinson, 37, and Walton, 57, were held for trial on charges of murder, conspiracy, and related crimes after an hours-long preliminary hearing before District Judge Dawn L. Vann.
An autopsy revealed that Frank died in November from a laceration to his liver that caused significant internal bleeding, as well as bleeding in his brain that a forensic examiner said Tuesday was caused by either blunt trauma or severely shaking the boy.
Those injuries, Kemp said, were caused by Robinson, who has a documented history of abusing all four of her children, and who had been seen beating and striking Frank whenever he cried at the couple’s house in Chester.
Kemp said though Robinson dealt the fatal injuries, Walton was just as culpable — he waited to call 911 until the boy had died, despite seeing his condition worsen in the hours after the beating.
Walton also agreed to lie to police and attempt to blame his son’s injuries on his then-3-year-old daughter, whom Robinson claimed had pushed the boy down the stairs, Kemp said. The girl, according to testimony Tuesday, had spent the entire day with Walton and had not been home.
“They were afraid of law enforcement and investigators seeing that every aspect of that child had been abused,” Kemp said. “Only one thing could’ve happened with that baby, and that was his death.”
Robinson’s attorney, Michael Dugan, said that there was no evidence his client had intended to kill her son.
“At the end of the day, who calls 911? Mom. Who does CPR? Mom,” Dugan said. “I don’t think either one of these parents knew this child was dying, and when they knew his extreme condition, they called for help.”
Walton’s attorney, Wana Saadzoi, asserted that the charges against him should be dropped — he had never been seen abusing his son, and the mortal injuries took place when he was out working.
“He couldn’t have prevented it from happening if he wasn’t present,” she said. “This was a tragic failure that he was unable to appreciate the seriousness of his injuries.”
But Kemp doubted that theory of the case, saying Walton was well aware of Robinson’s history of child abuse and should have done more to protect the toddler.
“As a parent, you don’t get to bury your head in the sand,” she said. “You have an affirmative duty to intervene and save your child.”
Frank was born prematurely, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his parents’ arrests, and tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl. He was placed in foster care as a result, but was returned to his parents in May 2025.
Robinson’s half brother, Jason Weldon, testified Tuesday that he saw her carry Frank down the stairs by his T-shirt and drop him onto his back from about waist height hours before the boy died.
He said he saw Robinson slap Frank and forcibly cover his mouth when he cried, and heard her say she was going to “beat this little [expletive].”
Weldon testified that he threatened to report Robinson to county officials, but that she begged him not to because she did not want the boy to be taken away again.
He said he told Walton about the abuse and that he needed to protect his kids.
“If I would’ve known [Frank Jr. would be killed], I would’ve done something about it,” Weldon said.
Weldon said he woke up on the night Frank died to see Robinson frantically performing CPR on the boy. And he was in the room when she told police that her daughter had pushed Frank down the stairs, he said, but he “didn’t think it went down that way.”
An autopsy revealed that the injuries the boy sustained, especially the laceration to his liver, required force only an adult could apply, according to testimony Tuesday.
