Grieving mother wants to know why her son died while in her now ex-boyfriend’s care as police investigate

Melissa Wolfe will likely never forget the call she got from her now ex-boyfriend telling her that her baby boy was not breathing.

She can recall him telling her, “that I needed to come because Luca wasn’t breathing,” Wolfe said, holding back sobs. “It didn’t feel real.”

Wolfe, who was at work in Sarasota and 45 minutes away from their Holmes Beach home, rushed to drive toward Blake Medical Center where her son was taken by paramedics.

Her driving was so frantic, however, that she was pulled over by a law enforcement officer, who after hearing why she was in such a panic, drove her to the hospital.

Luca, whose heart was beating again after life-saving measures, was transported to John Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg where he died four days later, on Aug. 25.

Holmes Beach police are now awaiting the results of additional testing from the Medical Examiner’s Office after the autopsy of 17-month-old Luca Sholey was inconclusive, according to Detective Sgt. Brian Hall.

Details about the criminal investigation, including any pending charges, have not been released. Luca’s death is also being investigated by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Child Protection Division, which handles all child welfare cases in Manatee County for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Meanwhile Wolfe, who no longer has any contact with her now ex-boyfriend, also wants answers about her son’s death.

“He said he put him to sleep,” Wolfe said. “And then when he went to check on him, he wasn’t breathing.”

But Wolfe does not believe that account.

Wolfe said she wants to know, “Why? Why this happened. I don’t understand how this happened.”

Luca, who was born in Sarasota, was a happy little boy, always smiling, the grieving mother said. Her son loved to cuddle, eat and play with his 3-year-old sister, Olivia.

“He liked to climb on everything,” Wolfe said. “We went to the park a lot. He liked the swing and tried to follow his sister up the slide.”

Wolfe would entrust her children to her boyfriend, while she and her father were at work. She never saw any signs that he would be capable of harming her children, she said.

“It is really unimaginable,” she said, still sobbing. “I trusted this person and they took everything from me.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Grieving mother wants to know why her son died while in her now ex-boyfriend’s care as police investigate."