A young boy who authorities say was tortured before his death died from blunt force trauma to the head, with officials also saying possible sexual assault has not been ruled out.
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco revealed the disturbing findings Tuesday during a press conference in Cincinnati, offering new details in the death of William Michael Evans-Ellis.
William was found dead at his Cincinnati home last week. His mother, 38-year-old Kaitlin Evans, and her two transgender partners, Nessa Keaney and Kirby Rankin, both 23, have each been charged with murder.
Sammarco said the circumstances surrounding the case were such that investigators could not exclude the possibility that William had been sexually assaulted before he died.
Authorities said the child was discovered dead Thursday inside a residence in Cincinnati’s Oakley neighborhood, where they allege he had been subjected to torture.
Prosecutors said in court last week, when the three suspects were arraigned, that Evans, Keaney and Rankin had been co-parenting the boy.
Hamilton County court records reviewed by Our News Outlet list Keaney and Rankin as biological males, while Evans is William’s biological mother.
According to WLWT, prosecutors told the court there was evidence indicating William had been abused by the trio for more than two months.
William Michael Evans-Ellis was found dead last week inside the Cincinnati home he shared with his mother and her trans lovers
Kaitlin Evans, pictured here, is the biological mother of William Evans who was found dead inside the home in Oakley
Hamilton County court records seen by Our News Outlet indicate that both Keaney, right, and Rankin, left, are biological males
After police entered the property, prosecutors said they found him in a closet where he had been bound and duct-taped.
It was claimed that despite neglecting and torturing the boy, they managed to take a dog of theirs to a vet to be vaccinated the day before his death.
Investigators said the boy suffered visible injuries which included ‘indicated physical beatings’ over his body.
He also suffered impact injuries to the back of his head and had been water tortured for a period of time and was badly burned, investigators said.
An attorney for Evans claimed that she did not cause the death of her son, saying that one of the others caused his death but did not name either Rankin or Keaney.
Her attorney did say in court that she had failed to save her son, and pleaded with the judge for a $250,000 bond.
Prosecutors asked for a $1 million bond on the murder charge and a further $500,000 on a child endangerment charge. The judge sided with the prosecution.
The boy’s other biological parent, who was not identified, was given the chance to address her in court, telling her: ‘I trusted you.’
William also suffered impact injuries to the back of his head and had been water tortured for a period of time and was badly burned
It was claimed that despite neglecting and torturing the boy, they managed to take a pet of theirs to a vet to be vaccinated the day before his death
According to Fox56, they also said that William had been kept away from them ‘over lies’.
A lawyer for Keaney said she had failed to ‘administer treatment’ for the boy which was allegedly ’caused by somebody else.’
Her attorney requested a $200,000 bond, prosecutors pushed back saying that Keaney failed to inform the authorities of the abuse. Her bond was set at $1 million.
Attorneys for Rankin requested an evaluation, saying she suffered from ‘documented serious mental health issues’.
The judge agreed, with Rankin to be back in court for the results at the beginning of next month.
A detective who was part of the investigation said that Rankin disclosed her own involvement in the abuse and implicated the two others as being involved.
Her bond was set at $1 million on the murder charge, with another $100,000 secured for the child endangerment charge.
A detective said the case was ‘one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse’ that he had ever seen in his two decades of work.
The trio are next back in court on August 17. All of them are on suicide watch inside Hamilton County Jail, Fox19 reported.
