Westminster Man arrested on Homicide by Child Abuse Charges

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Westminster man on charges of homicide by child abuse and child abuse inflicting great bodily injury. Booked into the Oconee County Detention Center was 25-year-old Matthew Jason Chappell of Windy Knoll Court. A deputy from the Uniform Patrol Division responded to Oconee Memorial Hospital in the early evening hours on Tuesday, Nov. 21, in regards to a possible case of child abuse involving a three year old female with skull fractures. The deputy began an investigation and notified Sgt. Tim Rice, the Child and Elder Abuse Investigator from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies also spoke to Chappell, who stated he discovered blood on the child around 3pm Tuesday, which would be the same time the child’s mother reportedly would be leaving work. Chappell said he was not able to reach the mother of the child by telephone. The child was transported by EMS to the Emergency Room of Oconee Memorial Hospital, with the child eventually being transferred to Greenville Memorial Hospital. As the investigation continued and evidence was gathered in the case, it was determined Chappell had caused the injuries to the child by, according to the arrest warrant, pushing the child into an object which resulted in the skull fractures and a loss of consciousness. While conducting the investigation into the first incident, Investigator Sgt. Rice also was able to obtain evidence to charge Chappell with homicide by child abuse in reference to a separate incident that occurred on June 9, 2017, at the Windy Knoll Court address in which deputies, paramedics and rescue squad members responded to reports of a pediatric airway obstruction of a two-year-old female. The child was transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital and died on June 11. Based upon the lack of evidence at the time of death, the cause of death was determined to be an accident as the child reportedly choked on food, which caused the child to go into cardiac arrest. New evidence led investigators to reopen this investigation. It has been determined that the defendant dropped the child on the floor with food in the child’s mouth causing the child to die as a result of this incident. Statements were taken that corroborated investigators findings in the investigation. The two children are siblings, according to investigators and Chappell is not the biological father of the two children. Chappell lived in the home with the mother of the children. However, they are not married. The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is continuing their investigation into both cases.