Beautiful baby boy AJ Stacey was severely and maliciously abused by his then teenage mother, Deja Armstrong, in 2016. When he was only 7 months old, she either attempted to suffocate him or she shook him so violently to the point that he ceased breathing. Fortunately, medical professionals were able to resuscitate him, but AJ would no longer be able to breathe on his own or have a good quality of life; thereafter, he depended on a ventilator to breathe and a feeding tube to absorb nutrients. This baby’s life was significantly diminished due to his mother’s abuse. 

Despite her abuse that resulted in AJ’s near-death and subsequent poor quality of life and health, she was offered a plea deal in which she was able to plea “no contest” to a first degree child abuse charge. Because of her youth and her “struggles with postpartum depression,” Attorney General of Delaware let her off with a slap on the wrist, as Deja Armstrong only received a few months of probation. 

Eventually, AJ’s father’s family gained custody/guardianship of this precious baby. Both AJ’s father, Adam Stacey, and his entire family took amazing care of AJ. They doted on him, loved him, cared for him, and took him to his appointments while hoping for improvement. Although AJ was on a ventilator and feeding tube, he could still follow them with his eyes and squeeze their hands. He knew that they were there and that he was immensely loved. 

However, on June 24, 2020, AJ ultimately and devastatingly passed away, due to the trauma that he had suffered from Deja Armstrong in 2016. This baby suffered for years from the abuse that his mother put him through before his untimely death. Deja Armstrong is no longer a minor and has not yet been tried for murder or for manslaughter; now is the perfect opportunity to get the justice that sweet AJ Stacey deserves by charging her and trying her for his death. It was only because of her atrocious and violent abuse that he ended up dying as a toddler who was dependent on a feeding tube and ventilator to survive. Deja stripped him of his quality of life, and then of his actual life. No baby deserves to suffer through the abuse that AJ suffered. No baby deserves to die after years of fighting as AJ had. His death is solely on the hands of Deja Armstrong. 

As a mother of a baby son myself, I challenge Governor Carney and Attorney General Kathy Jennings to seek desperately-needed justice for AJ Stacey by charging and trying his mother, Deja Armstrong, for murder or manslaughter for his untimely death and for his poor quality of life leading up to it. Justice needs to be served for this baby, and Deja Armstrong needs to be held responsible and accountable for her horrendous actions, especially now that AJ Stacey has died. 

**Clarifications & Edits Since Speaking with Paternal Grandmother: 

- It was not until AJ Stacey was receiving care in the hospital that the medical professionals realized that he was already recovering from broken ribs; his ribs had been broken weeks prior (presumably by Deja Armstrong) to the abuse that led to him becoming dependent upon a ventilator and feeding tube to survive. This highlights that she had perhaps been abusing him for a greater period of time than initially thought. 

- Deja Armstrong disconnected his life support one month into him recovering in the hospital, which caused A.I. DuPont to call the police and get them involved. After this incident, custody was taken of AJ Stacey by an organization which cares for special-needs children until AJ Stacey’s paternal family was able to gain guardianship of him. 

- To this day, Deja Armstrong has never said, explained, or admitted to what she did to her son and why she did it, although she did use the defense of “postpartum depression” when she was able to plea “no contest” to the first degree child abuse charge. She never used postpartum depression as a defense or an explanation to her actions until the plea.