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Mayport sailor arrested for 2010 murder of a toddler

A Mayport sailor is facing a murder charge for the death of a two-year-old.

Jacksonville Police have arrested 35-year-old Nicholas Rivet for a 2010 incident.  Police responded to an off-base home on Valley Forge Court near midnight on January 25, 2010 to find the two-year-old with extensive injuries.  First responders had found Eddie Robb unresponsive, and he was immediately airlifted to the hospital.

Initially, doctors determined Robb suffered a severe head injury that resulted in a brain bleed. Skull fracture and blown pupil.  He died at the hospital four days later as a result of “abusive trauma” according to the Medical Examiner quoted in the police report we obtained.

Police say Robb was living with his mother at Rivet’s home, along with Rivet’s three-year-old daughter. The mother says the toddler was normal when he was put to sleep that evening in the same room Rivet’s daughter sleeps. She then left, while Rivet remained upstairs.

She tells police she went upstairs to check on Rivet about one hour later when she heard a “thud” coming from the children’s bedroom.  She found Rivet leaving the bedroom, and he told her the toddler has woken up his daughter and he was “trying to get both of them to go back to sleep,” according to the police report.

Another hour and a half later, Rivet went back upstairs with the intent to go to bed, but checked on the children first. He called the toddler’s mother upstairs when the two-year-old was unresponsive.

The arrest warrant for Rivet says the extent of the toddler’s injuries, timeline for seeing symptoms, and evidence that Rivet was the last person with the child before he showed symptoms warrant probable cause.

Jacksonville Lt. Rob Schoonover tells us it took so long to make an arrest because Rivet and the toddler’s mother kept providing conflicting information. After enough time, however, they were able to gain confidence in the charge.

“She evidently passed a polygraph test, his story has changed numerous times over the past couple of years,” he says.

Naval Station Mayport confirms with us that Rivet is an active sailor that has been attached to the base for more than two years.  He is a Petty Officer First Class.

Schoonover says there will be no charges filed against the toddler’s mother.

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