Left inset: Anthony Evans (Chicago Police Department). Right inset: Kayson Flowers (Facebook/Kayla Flowers). Background: The Roseland neighborhood of Chicago, Ill., where Anthony Evans allegedly had a family member hand off his son Kayson Flowers to his mother in a covered stroller after killing him hours earlier, cops say (WBBM/YouTube).
An Illinois father has been taken into custody on charges of murdering his two-month-old son and concealing the child’s lifeless body in a stroller. A family member then handed the stroller to the baby’s mother, assuring her that the infant was merely asleep, according to police reports.
Kayla Flowers, the baby’s mother, recounted to reporters in May how she made the devastating discovery after bringing her son, Kayson Flowers, into the house on April 28, thinking he was simply asleep. “I didn’t suspect anything was wrong because it was raining, and I just wanted to protect my child from getting sick,” Flowers explained.
Speaking to a local ABC affiliate, Flowers described the harrowing moment she realized the truth. “When I got inside and uncovered the stroller, my baby was lifeless,” she recalled.
Authorities believe that Anthony Evans, 23, was responsible for the death of his son, Kayson, and enlisted a family member to deliver the child to Flowers in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood. Investigators suspect the infant had been deceased for approximately six to eight hours, with bruises reportedly found on his arms and legs.
In a heart-wrenching phone call to her pastor, Joe Huizenga, Flowers cried out, “My baby’s dead, they killed my baby!” as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Huizenga also shared that Flowers had described her son as appearing “black and blue,” painting a grim picture of the tragedy.
Kayson was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead, with authorities and doctors reporting signs of child abuse. His death was ruled a homicide and Kayla Flowers offered a reward for information leading to an arrest with help from Huizenga’s church, Roseland Christian Ministries.
“He never got the chance to say his first words, take his first steps, or celebrate his first birthday,” Kayla and Roseland Christian Ministries reportedly said in a joint statement in May. “He was a really, really beautiful baby,” Huizenga told WLS. “He had chubby little cheeks [and] a beautiful skin tone.”
Huizenga added, “It’s just absolutely horrific.”
Kayla Flowers told police that Kayson was allegedly staying with Evans and a family member for roughly a week when she went to pick the boy up on April 28. Evans was not at the relative’s home when Kayla picked Kayson up, according to police.
Evans was arrested on Monday in the 4700 block of South Champlain Avenue, according to a Chicago Police Department press release. He has been charged with murder.
“Me and my son finally got our justice,” Kayla Flowers wrote on Facebook Wednesday.
“No words can explain how grateful I am,” she said. “This means so much to me. My son didn’t get a chance to grow up with his family due to his father (Anthony Evans) taking my son’s life.”
