Kaitlin Evans, 38, Nessa Keaney, 23, and Kirby Rankin, 23, are facing charges of murder and child endangerment following the death of William Evans, 7.
The youngster was found dead inside a home in Oakley on Thursday, after being tortured inside the address, authorities claimed. An autopsy is still pending.
Prosecutors said in court that there was evidence that the child, identified by Cincinnati police as William Evans, had suffered ongoing abuse for more than two months.
Cincinnati police detective Kyle Smith spoke in court, calling the case “one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse” he had seen in more than two decades on the job.
“From what we could see, we saw injuries that would indicate physical beatings, blunt force injuries from a striking device on the face, torso back, upper and lower extremities. Impact injuries to the back of the head,” Smith said. “We believe that there was for lack of a better term, some water torture involved. We believe the victim was choked under water, held under water for a long period of time. There was some burn torture involved and the victim was found duct taped in positions that immobilized him.”
In court, it was revealed that Evans was mentally handicapped. His grandparents told WLWT that William was on the spectrum but a very smart child.
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