Monthly Archives: December 2012
Dashawn Harris
A five-year-old boy has been beaten to death and his mother and her boyfriend arrested for murder, authorities said.
Dashawn Harris was discovered by police in the early hours of Saturday, his body covered with bruises, cigarette burns and belt marks.
The child’s mother Lashay Patterson, 23, and her 25-year-old boyfriend Christian Patrick were charged with murder in Philadelphia a few hours later.
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Murder charge: Lashay Patterson (right) and her boyfriend Christian Patrick were arrested a few hours after the child had died
According to family who live nearby, Patrick became angry with the child while he was teaching him to read during a home schooling session and beat Dashawn with a belt and hairdryer.
Relatives said they believed Dashawn’s three-year-old brother Daqwon was also abused. Daqwon is now in the custody of his father.
Grace Fitch, Dashawn’s paternal grandmother, toldABC: ‘I can’t believe she did that. Shay was just the sweetest person you could meet and when she got with this guy she just started getting distant.’
She said her son was unaware of how his young sons were being treated. Patrick was known to police and had a history of drugs, according to philly.com.
The Philadelphia Department of Human Services refused to comment on the incident or say if there was an open case involving the family.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2242262/Dashawn-Harris-dead-Philadelphia-beaten-death-mother.html#ixzz2E8FoHhf2 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Seven-year-old Roderick
A seven-year-old boy has been beaten to death by his stepfather and mother for not reading his Bible, authorities said.
Markiece Palmer, 34, and Dina Palmer, 27, were charged with murder last week along with other counts of child abuse and neglect.
Roderick Arrington, seven, was taken to University Medical Center in Las Vegas last Thursday unconscious and with brain swelling. He died the following day.
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Second-grader Roderick recently moved to Las Vegas from Illinois, where he had been living with his father and grandmother.
Markiece Palmer told police he had spanked the child for lying about reading a Bible verse and failing to finish his homework. He said the boy then slipped and hit his head.
The arrest report details extensive injuries, including bruising over Roderick’s whole body and open wounds on his buttocks, allegedly from being beaten with a belt. The police report also revealed that Roderick was violently shaken by his stepfather.
When the little boy was unresponsive last week, Dina Palmer called her pastor who advised her to dial 911.
Tragic: Seven-year-old Roderick died in hospital after being admitted with brain swelling and covered in bruises
Dina Palmer told police that she had repeatedly hit her son with a paddle and belt last month, what she described as ‘whoopins’.
The couple admitted to police that they had regularly beaten the child for not reading the Bible or finishing his homework.
The couple are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center and are due in court today.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2242818/Mother-stepfather-beat-boy-7-death-reading-Bible.html#ixzz2E8F7xoxJ Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook