DANVILLE, Va. – The attorney for the toddler's mother says the restraining order against the young boy's stepmother, Ellen Tran, was dismissed by a judge at a hearing in February.
It had been in place since August 2016, when the toddler came back home with bruises after visiting his stepmother.
According to the attorney, the order was initially placed against both the stepmother and the toddler's father, but was dropped against the father in October 2016.
At the February hearing regarding the order, according to the attorney, Ellen Tran denied hurting the toddler, and her husband, the toddler's father, testified on her behalf.
As a result, the order was dropped against the stepmother.
The toddler was visiting his father and stepmother in Wisconsin when he died on April 15.
Ellen Tran is charged with second-degree reckless homicide.
She claims the toddler fell while she was giving him a shower.
An autopsy, however, revealed the likely cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Ellen Tran is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing in Wisconsin on May 25.