Both parents charged in New Kensington boy's murder
Sep. 21—Both parents of 9-year-old Azuree Charles were charged Wednesday in connection with the New Kensington boy's death in May.
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said the boy's father, Jean Charles, 40, of Brackenridge, is charged with first-degree murder, criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, unlawful restraint of a minor by a parent, strangulation, concealing the death of a child and tampering with physical evidence.
Police say Charles strangled Azuree, killing him, and then dragged his body over an embankment and tried to hide him under lawn furniture. He discarded a shovel used in the commission of the crime, police allege.
The boy's mother, Luella Elien, is charged as an accomplice to the aggravated assault of a child, child endangerment, and hindering the apprehension or prosecution of another person.
Police said Elien allowed Charles access to Azuree despite Charles having allegedly abused the boy from last November through May 1 and failed to protect him. They said that she allowed Charles to stay at her home despite knowing there was an active warrant for his arrest and did not notify police he was there.
Elien, who was arrested Wednesday morning, was arraigned in person before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on Wednesday afternoon. He set her bail at $50,000.
Pallone arraigned Jean Charles by video from the Westmoreland County jail, where he has been held since he was arrested a day after the boy's body was found on simple assault and child endangerment charges dating from November. Pallone denied Jean Charles bond on the homicide charge.
Both are scheduled for preliminary hearings Oct. 12 before Pallone.
"This horrific tragedy has rocked the New Kensington community. It has rocked our office, the New Kensington Police Department and our county as a whole. The trauma that has affected us all, however, pales in comparison to what Azuree no doubt experienced," Ziccarelli said during a news conference Wednesday at the courthouse. "Please know that the two defendants are in custody and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
There was relief in Azuree's neighborhood in East Ken Manor.
"I'm glad they got it solved," said Osie Taylor Jr., 70, who helped police find Azuree's body. "He was the nicest kid around. Something like this shouldn't have happened to him at all."
Azuree's body was found near Taylor's shed. He lives with the memory.
"It still bothers me when I go in the back yard," Taylor said.
Azuree's smile was what the Olbeter family was remembering of him on Wednesday.
"Your heart will melt by seeing that smile," said Bill Olbeter, who said Azuree called him "Mr. Bill."
His daughter, Aleese Olbeter, 15, found out about Azuree's parents being charged from her parents as she was coming home from school. She tried not to cry on the bus.
"I felt happiness. He finally got some justice," she said. "For your own parent to do that to a child, it's heartbreaking."
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Related:
—Authorities 'actively investigating' homicide of New Kensington 9-year-old Azuree Charles
—Candles lit, balloons released in memory of Azuree Charles
—Death of 9-year-old boy shakes New Kensington neighborhood
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Police detail charges
In a criminal complaint against Luella Elien, police said Elien reported Azuree missing on May 4 from their home on Haser Drive. He was found dead in a wooded area off of Haser later that morning.
In addition to Azuree, Elien has three daughters, ages 8, 6, and 4. While being arraigned, Elien said her children are in foster care.
Elien said she had last seen Azuree in his bedroom the evening of May 3. Police said they found a gas can on his bed and ketchup splattered on the bed and floor.
New Kensington police charged Charles with assaulting Azuree in November 2019. According to the complaint, Azuree told his mother that his father had hit him in the face and beat him with a phone charger.
Charles pleaded guilty to the charges.
According to the complaint, the Westmoreland County Children's Bureau did not enact a safety plan because Elien said she would keep him away from Azuree.
However, police said they learned that Charles was alleged to have physically assaulted Azuree again on Nov. 16. According to the complaint, the county children's bureau put a condition in place the next day prohibiting Charles from having unsupervised contact with any of his children, and Elien agreed to it.
New Kensington police charged Charles with simple assault and child endangerment in December for the November incident. An arrest warrant was issued and Elien was informed, the complaint states.
On May 4, shortly before Azuree was found, Elien told county detectives that Charles had not been to her home in several months and that he had not been around the children.
But in a second interview later that night, police say Elien recanted her statement and admitted that Charles came to her home on April 30 to watch the children while she went out for the evening.
Police said Charles admitted he had been there to watch the children, unsupervised, at Elien's request.
In the complaint against Charles, police said they interviewed a boy who lives near Azuree's home. Police said the boy, unable to sleep, told them he was up watching television when he heard Azuree yell, "NO NO NO, I'M SORRY" around 2:30 a.m. on May 4. The boy said Azuree sounded scared; scared himself, the boy went back to bed.
Azuree was naked and partially covered with a cooler and old lawn furniture when he was found. Mud and dirt were covering most of his torso and head, and mud was in his mouth and nose. His pajamas, wet and covered with mud, were found hanging in branches.
Police said a man wearing an olive-green hoodie and black pants was captured on a surveillance camera pushing a red bicycle and carrying a shovel in the area of Dent and Haser drives. The bicycle appeared to be the one belonging to Azuree.
Police found foot and bicycle tracks in the area where Azuree was found leading toward Dent Drive.
A Haser Drive resident reported finding a shovel that did not belong to him in his garbage can. It appeared to match the shovel that the man was carrying in the surveillance video.
Testing of the shovel showed a DNA match to Charles, the complaint states.
While Charles was in custody for an outstanding warrant, police said he agreed to speak with investigators. In describing where he was on May 3 and May 4, Charles claimed he had been at work, went to a church food pantry in Brackenridge, and to a garage he rents in New Kensington. Police said he claimed to be homeless.
From New Kensington, Charles claimed to have walked across the Ninth Street Bridge, to a park in the Aspinwall area, and to Market Square in Pittsburgh. He said he was on a bus heading back to Aspinwall around the Highland Park Bridge when Elien called about their son being missing.
Detectives viewed video from the area of Tarentum Bridge Road and the Tarentum Bridge. A man fitting the description of the man seen pushing Azuree's bicycle in East Ken Manor was seen walking across the bridge toward Tarentum. Police said footage from cameras outside the Tribune-Review on Fourth Avenue clearly show Charles wearing an olive-colored hoodie, black pants, and black-and-white shoes walking toward Brackenridge.
A man wearing the same clothing was seen on video walking past the United Steelworkers union hall on Brackenridge Avenue.
Police said phone records showed Charles called his place of work from the Brackenridge area. Police said they learned Charles is not homeless and rents an apartment in Brackenridge.
Police said they found an olive-colored hoodie and black pants lying behind an abandoned and partially collapsed building across the street from Charles' apartment.
Police said the hoodie was similar to the one Charles was seen wearing in numerous security videos. Testing of the clothing found a DNA match for Charles, police said.
