4yo Found Dead; Police Say There Were Signs Of Horrific Abuse

[Whisper]

Not alot yet,son of a bitch,I get emotional when Im tired and Im tired and this story just sent me over the edge

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) - The ambulance arrived at the home on California Street shortly after noon on Mother’s Day.

Neighbors were horrified to see medics carry out an unresponsive a 4-year-old boy.

Police suspect the child died from long-term abuse. His little body was covered with bedsores and bruises from head to toe. A source close to the investigation tells 7 Action News that the 4-year-old had been burned so badly he had skin missing – and that he was so skinny he looked like he had been starved.
We’re also told he had cuts on his arm, which appeared to be from a razor.
Four other boys also lived at the home, including the 4-year-old’s brother. Police say they were in the care of their aunt because their mother died a few years ago.
[....]
The aunt and a boyfriend were taken into police custody. It’s still not clear if the boy was in their care or someone else’s when he died.

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...horrific-abuse

The other three boys were the aunt’s children.

That sentence says it all right there,he wasnt theirs

[Toxic]

Cuts on his arm? Like attempted suicide?

Im going to cry alot tonight when I go to bed?

[FknKraze]

Mother Fucker!!!

[Whisper]

still no more released State Police just arrived on scene 10 minutes ago,
Im hoping they name names soon

[Whisper]

nothing new on news except they said he had obviously been tied up
and they also removed handcuffs that were used on the dead 4yo although didnt say why they are sure they were

[Silvahalo]

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) - The ambulance arrived at the home on California Street shortly after noon on Mother’s Day.... Police say they were in the care of their aunt because their mother died a few years ago.

On mother's day, knew there would be some but damn it to hell, not one day without horror!

Would put him around 2 yo when he was place with the aunt. Little one would have needed a lot of love and patience under the circumstance as he had lost his mommy. ffs, she was his aunt. IF i had to take in my nephew's it would not matter a bit to me that their not my children. I'd care for them as my own.
What a terrible sad thing to read today, just breaks my heart.

Rest in peace little one.

[Whisper]

I almost dont want to know more b/c police, ems and reporters were crying so its bad

[Silvahalo]

nothing new posted from other sources. i agree @whisperswing, must be very bad.
but nothing like this is anything other than bad.

[Whisper]

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. -- Police are working to find out what happened to a 4-year-old boy who was found dead with signs of abuse and torture.
[...]
After the child arrived at the hospital, that's when police were called to the 200 block of California Street.
"The child showed signs of abuse, rope burns, bruises on the body, burnt skin and that he actually had a patch of his skin missing," said neighbor Reginald Bennett.

Police have reason to believe the boy was tortured because of how excruciatingly thin he was.
According to police, the boy's mother passed away years ago and the 4-year-old and his brother live with their aunt, her children and boyfriend.
[..]
"The kids would just play outside for hours at a time by themselves pretty much until sunrise. They'd be out all day unsupervised," said Bennett.
With the couple in custody and a search warrant in hand, police took bags of evidence from the house.
Sources tell Local 4 that the house is extremely clean, but the smell of bleach stood out. We're told the five kids are with child protective services. Both adults are being questioned by police.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27820665/detail.html
I WANT NAMES DAMMIT@@

[Robynne]

I think that when a child is placed with someone other than a parent, there should be at least annual if not 6 month inspections to make sure these children are being taken care of.
I understand how people who don't hurt these children would be upset, but for the sake of all children, it should be mandatory. At least for a certain period of time.

[Tundratot]

I think that when a child is placed with someone other than a parent, there should be at least annual if not 6 month inspections to make sure these children are being taken care of.
I understand how people who don't hurt these children would be upset, but for the sake of all children, it should be mandatory. At least for a certain period of time.

I tend to agree, but we all know of stories where the child was killed within days.

[Toxic]

I cant help wonder why in cases like this it is usually just one child that gets abused....what was so wrong with him in those motherfuckers eyes?

Im sure he wondered that every day...."why dont they like me?"

This boy just lost his mother, and @ 2 no child fully understands things like that, then he gets placed in that "hell sweet hell" and systematically tortured until he dies. I really hope theres some kind of afterlife, so this sweet baby can be made whole again and reunited with his mama.

[Jerri Blank]

I cant help wonder why in cases like this it is usually just one child that gets abused....what was so wrong with him in those motherfuckers eyes?

Im sure he wondered that every day...."why dont they like me?"

I think about that exact same question all the time. It is such a theme repeated in story after story after story of these poor innocent children.

Elisa Izquierdo, Summer Phelps, Nixzmary Brown, Charnae Wise, Nadine Lockwood, Tausha Lee Lanham, Valerie Smelser, Jeanette Maples, Andrew 'A.J.' Schwarz, Shane Coffman, Nia Marie Glassie, Aiyana Gauvin, Shelby Andrews - All fairly well known cases of brutal prolonged child-abuse and all of them singled out for this tortured life.

Why?!!
I don't get it all (not like I get any abause anyway), but why one kid over another?

Does this 'singling-out' make these particular abuse cases just that much more 'evil' than others? To me, yeah, I think so.

For one most were truely hated. For what ever perceived reason, the gaurdians (for lack of a better word, they sure weren't real parents) despised them.

Like 6-year-old Logan Tucker, his mother absolutly hated this child to the point that she killed him just one to two days before he was going to home for kids (which she arranged) because she couldn't wait another day to be rid of him.
Then she cried.
Not tears of remorse but those of joy that he was gone.

You just know that these poor kids knew they are hated but being children they have no idea why when all they want and need is love and affection. They don't know that sometimes people who should love you just don't have a caring bone in their body.

For another reason I feel these cases are soo 'evil' is this abuse of one paralyzed and terrorized the other children, who have no idea why either this is happening but are forced to witness someone they love basically being tortured to death.

For instance 7-year-old Chandler Grafner's little brother Dominic Phillips has to remember telling his older brother ‘I don’t want to get into trouble.’ when Chandler would beg him for food. He will always remember that and think "would he had lived if I feed him?"

Dominic also testified against his father, he was Chandler's mouth piece, and pretty much sealed his father's fate in prison.

How does a child deal with that..
A boy who needs a father growing up and is responsible for sending him to prison?

Though it was the right thing for him to, he is so young and it won't be until he is a adult can he really understand and process how important it was for him to testify against him, at least I don't think so.

Then theres people like me.
A innocent bystander and now a witness by proxy. I remember these cases because they really haunt me for there shear 'evilness'.
I remember these children's, names, faces, and what happened to them like the back of my hands, hands that are tied.

These perceived images of what happened to these kids give nightmares more often than the good ones and make me desolve into tears on a lovely day like today out of the clear blue sky.
I think about what kind of person, a seemingly average person like myself, wakes up in the morning and think "I don't believe I'll be feeding my daughter today" or sit around creating new ways to torture her.

My life is forever changed to by this 'evil', as most witness are, and it's like a storm cloud always following me around.
Always.

It's probably for the best I can't wrap my mind around child abuse in anyway (and this child-torture) and I should be happy that the answer to 'how could someone do this?' will never come to me.

(added links to the kids I mentioned story's, if you haven't heard of these cases and read them your day will be ruined so beware before clicking 'em)

[Whisper]

Not much more out except his name was Robert
after mom died dad agreed to allow the boys to stay there until he was back on feet
and for last 2 years hes been trying to get them back and see them and the aunts been blocking him all the way
But didnt say if it been through legal avenues or just pass the kid kinda deal
Cops said there was blood throughout the house and he was dead for awhile before they called for help
But nothing new in print so heres the links to watch video

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...horrific-abuse

Cops also said if you suspect anything at all CALL
You dont have to be right and have all the proof in the world
if someone had called Robert would still be alive
If anymore comes out on news Ill post it



Police: Dead 4-year-old boy may have been abused

Police are investing the death of a 4-year-old boy who may have been tortured inside his Highland Park home.
[...]
Doctors called police to report possible a child abuse case after the boy was taken to a hospital by ambulance Sunday, she said. Police are trying to determine when the boy died, Perkins said
When police arrived at the home nobody was there, so they got a search warrant, Perkins said.

“The first thing that hit us was the smell of bleach and we could tell that the place had been cleaned and mopped,” she said.
Police say they found some evidence that a crime took place but didn’t elaborate on what that evidence was. Markings were found on the child’s body, Perkins said, but she didn’t say what kind of marks.
An autopsy is being performed today by the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office.
Two people are in custody and are being investigated, but police didn’t say who the people are or how they are believed to be involved.
Michigan State Police are processing the scene

http://www.freep.com/article/2011050...ay-been-abused

[Silvahalo]

I think that when a child is placed with someone other than a parent, there should be at least annual if not 6 month inspections to make sure these children are being taken care of.
I understand how people who don't hurt these children would be upset, but for the sake of all children, it should be mandatory. At least for a certain period of time.

With child abuse cases it is very common to see a child singled out for abuse. You name the reason, small, meek, slow, not theirs, now wanted, wrong color of skin, etc...who knows and will never justify it. I think in this case the aunt was resentful of having to care for her nephew. Often CPS pretty much will say here you go and you don't get a lot of choice unless its an obvious wrong reason to place the child with a relative and even then they screw that up.
It's clear Robert was a burden to her, maybe she didn't like her sister, took it out on Robert....god thinking on that really pisses me off. Imagine having a 2yo baby handed to you that needs you so bad, her answer is to single him out and abuse and neglect him. Again, why some people just need ass kicking.

I agree, followups are important and even mandatory but it varies depending on the state and the funding...but I *think* it is mandatory at least that is what I understand. We shall see how CPS comes into this. I bet we'll find them hiding under a fucking rock.
So sorry little Robert.

[MadeaBecBec]

Ruth Prock said:
Sadly, the ability to breed, is not predicated on the ability to parent. The selfish, and self absorbed, irresponsible and lazy, and those that are essentially evil all reproduce. We do not want government to control our "reproductive rights." We do not want government to tell us how to raise our children. (Although there are many that think it is the governments' job to feed and house children of parents who are unwilling to work to do so.) We do not intervene in "families" until there is a tragedy. Then we scratch our heads and wonder why it happened. Why WOULDN'T these tragedies happen? Here are some thoughts: First, if you are too lazy to use birth control, man or woman, any child that results IS your obligation to support, raise, and nurture for 18 years, no exceptions. A national dna data bank and a requirement to provide DNA to employers would nail those not supporting their children. Child support should be deducted from payroll. Second, any one receiving welfare benefits, should be compelled to submit to sterilization, drug testing, home inspections, and to get medical evaluations of their children annually. These 2 things would do more to protect children then a million caseworkers.

Posted in the comment section here:
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/...horrific-abuse


I mostly agree with the above comment! I do feel the same about long-term recipients of government-aid. However, not for those that need the aid, short-term....

I don't usually read the comment sections unless there are no names to go with the crime. I read them hoping someone will post a comment, that knew these wastes of skin and the children's situations. Searching for names.....

[Whisper]

I have been looking since lastnight for a pic of this little boy,finally called the TV News Station and they mustve known I wasnt giving up and sent me one they were just getting ready to add to website (Thanks you know who you are)

Robert

2 People Named Persons Of Interest In Boy's Death

4-Year-Old Boy Found Dead In Highland Park Home

Two people have been named persons of interest in the investigation into a 4-year-old boy’s death, Highland Park police said.
Police said paramedics took the boy from the home at 229 California Street on Sunday morning to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the boy was extremely thin and showed signs of abuse. They said he had been living in the home with his 6-year-old brother, aunt, her boyfriend and four other cousins after his mother died.
The 6-year-old and four other children have all been placed in protective custody.
Police said the boy’s aunt and her boyfriend are being questioned as persons of interest.
[...]
Neighbor Reginald Bennett said the family moved to the neighborhood earlier this spring.
"The kids would just play outside for hours at a time by themselves pretty much until sunrise. They'd be out all day unsupervised," he said.
He said he heard the boy had burns, bruises and rope marks on his body.
[..]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42952246...ws-detroit_mi/


Dead 4-Year-Old Boy Lived Here
http://www.tv20detroit.com/home/Poli...121494469.html

Highland Park Police: Boy Was Beaten, Burned

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. -- Two people have been named persons of interest in the investigation into a 4-year-old boy’s death, Highland Park police said.
Police said paramedics took Robert Byrd from the home at 229 California Street on Sunday morning to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said Byrd was extremely thin and showed signs of abuse, which included burns and scratch marks. They also said he has sickle cell anemia.

He had been living in the home for about three years with his 6-year-old brother, aunt, her boyfriend and three other cousins after his mother died, police said. They said none of the other children showed signs of abuse and have since been placed in protective custody.

Police said Byrd’s aunt and her boyfriend are being questioned as persons of interest.
[...]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27820665/detail.html

All the kids were outside all the time but Robert never was
Nobody knew he existed(seeing alot of that lately) neighbors didnt know he even lived there.
He was singled out for the torture,
dad now had supervised access to Roberts 6 yo brother

[Robynne]

I have been looking since lastnight for a pic of this little boy,finally called the TV News Station and they mustve known I wasnt giving up and sent me one they were just getting ready to add to website (Thanks you know who you are)

Robert

[B]2 People Named Persons Of Interest In Boy's Death
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42952246...ws-detroit_mi/


Dead 4-Year-Old Boy Lived Here
http://www.tv20detroit.com/home/Poli...121494469.html

Highland Park Police: Boy Was Beaten, Burned
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27820665/detail.html

All the kids were outside all the time but Robert never was
Nobody knew he existed(seeing alot of that lately) neighbors didnt know he even lived there.
He was singled out for the torture,
dad now had supervised access to Roberts 6 yo brother

That sweet face, I want to beat these fucks with a hatchet.
R.I.P. Robert Byrd, may you be in your mother's loving arms for all eternity.

[Toxic]

Im still curious as to whether the cuts on his arms were self inflicted....there have been cases as young as 6 (that ive heard) to commit suicide...and living in that searing hell everyday would make anyone want to do that.

[Whisper]

Im still curious as to whether the cuts on his arms were self inflicted....there have been cases as young as 6 (that ive heard) to commit suicide...and living in that searing hell everyday would make anyone want to do that.

I really believe they cut him,according to reports on TV here ,he was tortured
So I dont know for sure yet Im just going by whats been said here and alot of the stuff being said I am having a hard time finding in print to post
But my heart tells me he was a singled out non loved little boy that was tortured by those supposed to keep him safe until dad could take them back
They obviously didnt want him and couldnt help but abuse him ,all they had to do was quit beating the baby let him heal and give him back ,as sick as that sounds,they couldnt stop abusing him long enough to heal and give back to dad,thats JMHO

[Silvahalo]

I really believe they cut him,according to reports on TV here ,he was tortured
So I dont know for sure yet Im just going by whats been said here and alot of the stuff being said I am having a hard time finding in print to post
But my heart tells me he was a singled out non loved little boy that was tortured by those supposed to keep him safe until dad could take them back
They obviously didnt want him and couldnt help but abuse him ,all they had to do was quit beating the baby let him heal and give him back ,as sick as that sounds,they couldnt stop abusing him long enough to heal and give back to dad,thats JMHO

I agree, I don't think I've ever read on a child that young being a "cutter".....the fuckers are guilty, I'd bet for all his wounds.
Thanks for the pic @whisperswing....i was thinking about that last night as i went to bed. The little ones always turn out to be so cute.

[Toxic]

Thanks for clearing that up for me @whisperswing

Im just so dumbfounded that they just couldnt give him to his dad...maybe he would have had a life...he was such a sweet looking boy and so handsome...

[Whisper]

"he had fingernail puntures along his rib cage,loop marks across his chest from beatings etc,etc"
"you name it he had it(injuries)" according to the child abuse court worker
Anthony Byrd the dad just had a custody hearing a few minutes ago and hes been given supervised unlimited visitation until courts decide the boys in no danger from ANYONE
The kids will be valuable witnesses according to police and are in protective custody with fosters that are specialists in this area


Sad and worse coming out every few minutes

[Whisper]

Really wish they would get past the "May Have Been Abused"
Only other possibility from what I have seen would be a fucking plane crash!


Police: Dead 4-year-old boy may have been abused

Police are investing the death of a 4-year-old who may have been tortured inside his Highland Park home.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said the boy died of starvation and neglect and ruled his death a homicide. He was 3 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed 24 pounds, Wayne County spokesman Dennis Niemiec said.

The medical examiner has not released the name of the boy, but his father Anthony Byrd said the 4-year-old's name is Robert Byrd.
The boy’s mother had died and he was living with his aunt and five other children, all boys between the ages of 4 and 10, in a home in the 200 block of California, Highland Park Det. Sgt. Brenda Perkins said.
[...]
When police arrived at the home nobody was there, so they got a search warrant, Perkins said.

“The first thing that hit us was the smell of bleach and we could tell that the place had been cleaned and mopped,” she said.
Police say they found some evidence that a crime took place but didn’t elaborate on what that evidence was. Markings were found on the child’s body, Perkins said, but she didn’t say what kind of marks.
[...]

http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com...sey=nav%7chead

Starvation Killed 4yo Highland Park Boy

An autopsy determined today that a 4-year-old boy taken from a home on California Street on Mother's Day morning died from starvation and neglect.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner's office said Robert Byrd, who had been in the care of an uncle and aunt, was 3 feet, 1 inch tall, weighed 24 pounds, and his emaciated body showed extensive bruising. He was found in an unresponsive state by ambulance paramedics called to the home. The death is classified a homicide.


"They starved my son," a crying Anthony Byrd, 31, told family members gathered at his east side home after he identified his son's body at the medical examiner's office.

Byrd lost custody of his sons, Robert and Anthony Jr., 6, and 12-year-old daughter Anttalayzeaha or "LayLay," when he went to prison in 2009 for felonious assault. When released nine months later, he said he was unable to regain custody. He said the boys' mother died in 2007 from a brain aneurysm.
"They kept changing addresses and phone numbers and wouldn't let me see my sons," Byrd said about Matilda and Randy Gardner, whom Highland Park Police have held since Sunday for questioning. "I was trying to be an adult about it, but they kept playing me."
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Maria Miller said no decision on whether to charge the Gardners is expected today.

"Nobody knew what was going on there," said Michelle Burnett, Anthony Byrd's sister, who was among a crowd of relatives comforting her brother this afternoon.

Carter Mayberry said he was tending his front lawn on Mother's Day's sunny morning when an ambulance pulled up to the house two doors down from his home on California Street. He said a paramedic carried out a lifeless, "skeleton-looking" child.

"My heart sank," Mayberry, 72, said today.
[...]
"I raised four of my own, and when I saw that technician carrying that little thing like a newborn in his arms … you wonder what happened here," Carter said.

The couple moved into the house three or four months ago, Carter said, adding he only saw the man and woman when they arrived and departed. He's not sure he ever saw the 4-year-old.

The home appears to have fallen into recent disrepair. Homes on both sides are well-kept and neat, but the house that was still surrounded today with yellow police crime scene barrier tape, had chipping paint and an unkempt backyard. A couple of small potted flowers were on the front porch with several upholstered seats that appeared to have come from a minivan. Two satellite television receiving dishes were affixed to the porch roof.

"If I had known something was going on, I certainly would have called for help," Carter said.

The older brother and four children belonging to the Gardners were taken by Wayne County Child Protective Services workers, according to police. Byrd said his daughter is in the care of another relative.

http://detnews.com/article/20110509/...90394/-1/rss29

[Whisper]

wonder why they havent said if the aunts from moms side or dads side or just one of those pass the kid things to a non related person that calls themselves 'aunt"
Im guessing moms side since dads seems to be supported by family at court and news interviews

[Tundratot]

How pathetic is it when a mother dies, and her own relatives kill her child? I can't find the words to describe how I feel about this. This child, a living legacy of his mother, not simply neglected, but beaten and tortured, killed. If there is a heaven, it is a succor to think he'd be there with his mother now, but it is also horrific to think of her seeing this happen to her young, vulnerable son.

[Whisper]

[...]
Connie Brown's 31-year-old sister is the woman now in police custody. She says her sister had four of her own children, plus Robert and his six-year-old brother living at the home.

Robert and Anthony's mother had died in 2007 from a heart condition and their father had been incarcerated, so they lived with their aunt.

Police say it appears little Robert was intentionally targeted for abuse.

The other children were taken into protective custody. Police say it does not appear they were abused.
[...]

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...se-20110509-mr

[Whisper]

Even though aunt and uncle havent yet been charged they are in jail and on the news tonight they said that both will most likely be charged and in court tomorrow afternoon!!
So hoping for names and picks and more info tomorrow
Also that pic of Robert is only half the pic,they blurred out the face of his brother he was hugging at the time

[Whisper]

The video is one of my local news and she explains whats going on with aunt and uncle and what will happen tomorrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTHc_bEOhbE

[MadeaBecBec]

FB profile pic

Matilda Brown Gardner has (public) facebook: http://www.facebook.com/matildatight...ardner?sk=wall
'Friends' are letting her have it, too!


Her last two statuses:

Matilda Brown Gardner
I should make my own toilet paper cause I'm the shit lmmao buns toilet paper I'm so silly its best to be silly then to be mad 4 nothing like other folks I'm on my grown women shit not kid shit mz independent only deal wit folks on my level its mz matilda bitches

Saturday at 3:45pm via Mobile Web.

Matilda Brown Gardner
Up and at em this morning getting my shit done toes lashes nails and eye brows and hair saying happy early mothere day to all mothers ttyl fb

Saturday at 8:17am via Mobile Web.

Beware: Her facebook will make your head hurt!
Randy Gardners (public) facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...983399&sk=wall

On his wall:

Matilda Brown Gardner
Why you keep poking me on facebook hubby ain't you done poked enough lol
May 5 at 11:20am

Randymoneymaking Gardner likes this..

Randymoneymaking Gardner you know i like poking you wifey lol :) :) $ $
May 5 at 9:55pm

Antoinette Angie Smith NOW A NIGGA NAME BIG MOE GO POKE YOUR ASS N YOUR MOUTH N JAIL...THEN I HOPE THEY KILL YOUR ASS...DIE SLOW....
45 minutes ago

·


Randy Gardners profile pic UGH!!

Stupid evil human excrements.......