Justice for Vallen — The mishandling of a 3-year-old’s murder case by the police

Kimberly Stovall uploaded a TikTok video on November 27, 2022, seeking justice for her deceased 3-year-old son, Vallen Alijah Soliveres, whose murder case remained unresolved for months. On July 18, 2022, Vallen passed away shortly after a court-mandated visit with his father Miles Soliveres in Illinois, Chicago.

Miles initially informed Kimberly that Vallen had choked on cereal and was hospitalized. But she later learned that was not true as the medical reports showed no indication of choking, and Vallen had instead passed away due to brain injury. Suspiciously, Miles and his partner disappeared after Vallen’s death.

“When I went into the hospital, [Vallen’s] chin was missing, he had a bruise on his head and a nice little scar on his eye,” said Kimberly.

Two days after Vallen’s death, his father Miles Soliveres attempted to take his own life

As Kimberly and Miles were separated, Vallen lived with his mother and only went to his father’s place on court-mandated visitation days. According to Kimberly, Vallen used to come home with bruises after most visits with Miles and would act differently. This had been going on for a year.

When Kimberly voiced her concerns to the judge overseeing their custodial matters, the judge allegedly dismissed Miles’ behavior as “boys will be boys” and allowed him to retain his visitation rights. But after further insistence from Kimberly, the judge appointed a guardian ad litem (a lawyer who works in the best interest of the child) to investigate the case.

However, the lawyer dropped the case after Miles refused to pay her half of the retainer as previously agreed. A month or two later, Vallen was hospitalized in critical condition during one of his visits to Miles’ place. He had a brain injury and went into cardiac arrest. Just a few hours later, Vallen – who was a healthy boy before the incident – passed away.

When Kimberly reached the hospital, Miles and his partner had already left the scene. Two days later, he attempted suicide by jumping into a lake but was unsuccessful. That was the last time anyone heard from the couple who have disappeared since then. The police and investigators have been unable to locate or contact them.

The investigators updated Kimberly on the progress of the case after her TikTok video gained national attention

In what seems to be a botched investigation, the police not only let the suspects slip but also refused to follow up and update the case. The investigators claimed that they needed to wait a year for Vallen’s autopsy result to arrive to proceed with the case.

“My problem is that now it is almost December and the officers and the investigators are telling me, ‘Oh, we have no update’. All I am asking is, can anybody get the word out because this shouldn’t have happened to him or any other child,” said Kimberly in her first video.

After the video gained millions of views, the investigators finally updated Kimberly on Vallen’s case on December 9, 2022. The autopsy showed that Vallen had died of unnatural causes and had sustained injuries such as subconjunctival hemorrhage (bleeding from the eye) and bruises on the head.

Considering that four months have passed since the crime, the investigation appears to be in its early stage. For instance, the investigators have just begun to question all the family members and people who knew Vallen and Miles. As for Kimberly, she is currently searching for a lawyer to represent the case.