7-year-old was tortured before dying, Michigan cops say. Mom and boyfriend charged
A mother and her boyfriend have been arrested and charged with murder after the death of her 7-year-old boy, who, according to Michigan officials, was was brutally tortured.
“There are just simply no words to describe how absolutely brutalized (the boy) was based on the facts and the evidence that we have,” Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Tina Ripley told WDIV.
According to the Detroit Police Department, Alisha Hollamon, 23, and Avion Traylor, 21, have been arrested in connection to the death.
McClatchy News reached out to Traylor’s attorney, Randall Upshaw, on Oct. 25 but did not immediately receive a response. An attorney listed for Hollamon could not be found.
Police were called to a Detroit home around 12:08 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22 for a report of child abuse, according to WXYZ. When officers arrived, they found the boy suffering from physical injuries.
The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, WKYZ reported.
Officials discovered he had brain bleeding and his pelvis was broken in half, Ripley said during court arraignments, according to The Detroit News. She also said it looked as though he had been “dragged across a rough surface.”
“He has bruises and marks in the shape of something semi-circular. He has an anal tear and burn marks that were made post-mortem, meaning after he died,” Ripley said, according to WDIV.
The boy’s cause of death was determined to be from multiple blunt force trauma, which caused internal bleeding, WDIV reported.
Authorities say although it was “cleaned to the naked eye,” they found blood in the basement of the home using black lights, and on several items they say were used as weapons, The Detroit News reported.
During the arraignment, Upshaw said “none of the home videos show Traylor committing any criminal acts,” according to The Detroit News. He said Traylor has “no ill will.”
Both Hollamon and Traylor were remanded to stay in jail as the case moves forward, according to WXYZ.
In addition to murder, the two are also charged with child abuse and torture, according to officials.
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