A detective told the court that the case was “one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse” he had seen in more than two decades on the job.
Three people have been charged with the murder of a seven-year-old Ohio boy, with prosecutors saying that the young boy had suffered abuse at the hands of the defendants for months. Those arrested include the boy’s mother as well as two trans-identified males.
Per WLWT5, Kaitlin Evans, 39, Nessa Keaney, 23, and Kirby Rankin, 33, were arraigned on charges of murder and child endangerment inside a Hamilton County courtroom Friday. Evans was identified as the mother of the boy, while Rankin and Keaney have been identified as being transgender.
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Prosecutors said in the hearing that the boy, William Evans, had been found in a closet, bound and duct-taped. The three defendants were allegedly co-parenting the child, the prosecution said. The court heard that the young boy was mentally handicapped.
A detective told the court that the case was "one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse" he had seen in more than two decades on the job.
The detective said that visible injuries all over the boy’s body "indicated physical beatings.” Officials said the boy had suffered impact injuries to the back of the head, sustained “water torture,” and evidence was found showing that the boy had been badly burned.
Prosecutors said that the day before the boy’s death, the three defendants took a pet to the vet, leaving Evans at home. The detective said that Rankin had disclosed his involvement in the child’s abuse, and implicated Evans and Keaney as being “active participants” as well.
The defense attorney representing Kaitlin Evans said that his client had not caused her son’s death, but rather one of the other defendants. The attorney did not specify who that was. The attorney did say that Evans failed to act to save her son’s life.
Keaney's lawyer claimed the defendant “tried to administer treatment” for the boy’s injuries “caused by somebody else in the household, but failed to act or report the abuse the boy sustained. Keaney’s lawyer said, “I think she's the least culpable.”
Attorneys for Rankin requested a competency evaluation for their client, saying “there is documented serious mental health issues.” The judge agreed, with Rankin returning to court on September 4 for the results of the evaluation.
Bonds for all three defendants were set at $1 million for the murder charges, and $100,000 for the child endangerment charge. A grand jury will hear the case on August 17.
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