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A Selma man was convicted on March 15 by a Dallas County jury in the death of a toddler.

According to the Dallas County Court system, Tristan Dial was convicted of manslaughter. He was charged after the 23-month-old child of a woman he was dating died on Aug. 14, 2017. 

Then-Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier said the incident occurred at 1201 Woodrow Ave. at Selma Square Apartments. Dial was watching the 23-month-old baby that day. When the mother, Almetric Matthews, returned home, the child was unresponsive. She took the child to Vaughan Regional Medical Center, but the child died in the emergency room.

An autopsy conducted by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences determined the child died from multiple instances of blunt-force trauma. Following the autopsy results, the findings were presented to a Dallas County grand jury in August 2018. The jury found probable cause to indict both Dial and Matthews, who was charged with criminally negligent homicide.

Dial will be sentenced by Dallas County Circuit Court Judge Marvin Wiggins at a later date.

Dial’s domestic violence incident where he was shot by the complainant was dismissed. Traci Dial, Dial’s mother, dropped by the Selma Times-Journal Tuesday with a court document showing that case was dismissed on Nov. 16, 2022.