Abandoned 6-year-old run over by mother who then reported him missing, Ohio cops say
An Ohio mother reported her 6-year-old son as missing Sunday — a few days after she ran him over and dumped his dead body in the Ohio River, police say.
Brittany Gosney, 29, later admitted to her role in the murder of her son, James Robert Hutchinson, according to Middletown police.
The mother tried to abandon James in a wildlife area last week, she admitted to police, according to WXIX. When he tried to get back in the car, Gosney ran him over, WXIX reported.
James was dragged by his mother’s car “for a distance” before she returned a half hour later, cops said, according to WCPO. She found James dead in the parking lot, WCPO reported.
Gosney and her boyfriend, 42-year-old James Hamilton, brought the boy’s body back to their home in Middletown, about 30 miles away, police said in a news release. James was later dumped in the Ohio River, according to police.
Middletown police posted a missing person’s report about James on Sunday morning. About 10 hours later, it posted an update that James had been dead for days.
As of Sunday night, his body had not been recovered.
“We will be working with trained searchers in an attempt to recover James’s body,” Middletown Police Chief David Birk said. “The river is very high and treacherous, so we will not be disclosing the exact location in hopes of avoiding another tragic incident.”
Gosney and Hamilton were charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, and Gosney was also charged with murder, police said. Birk said in a news briefing Monday afternoon Gosney “is not showing much remorse.”
Two other children in the household were removed from the home, Birk said. Gosney also attempted to abandon the other children, according to the police chief.
James was a student at Rosa Parks Elementary School, the Middletown City School District said in a statement.
“We are all mourning the loss of our friend James today,” school principal Tracy Neely said. “James was a happy and joyful soul who loved school. On the days he was in class, he would give hugs to all his teachers as he walked into school. A fun memory I have is the way his face would light up when he won the lucky lunch tray! First graders can find the joy in just about anything. I will always remember his bright joy.”
Middleton is in southwestern Ohio, about 35 miles north of Cincinnati.
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