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A Maryland mother and her boyfriend were arrested after allegedly beating her six-year-old son to death because he took money from her wallet.
Brian Graham died in hospital after Baltimore police and medics were called to a report of an “unresponsive child” in the city at around 11.30pm on August 21, according to authorities.
His mother, Jalesia Offer, and her boyfriend, Brandon Wheatley, - both 34 years old - have since been arrested for allegedly being involved in Graham’s death, which was ruled as a homicide caused by blunt force trauma on August 22. They face first-degree charges of child abuse resulting in death.
Charging documents in the case outline the shocking last few days of the six-year-old’s life, reported WMAR.
According to the documents, Offer admitted she beat her son after he supposedly took money from her wallet, smacking and punching him “with a closed fist multiple times,” with Wheatley continuing “the physical discipline after her.”
On the day he was found, Wheatley had allegedly taken Graham to the bathroom for a shower, with Offer claiming she found her six-year-old unresponsive in the bathtub and her boyfriend slumped on the bathroom floor.
She reportedly went on to say that after waking Wheatley up, the pair pulled her son from the tub and called 911.
The Medical Examiner’s Office determined Graham suffered a lacerated liver, multiple rib fractures and internal bleeding to his head and torso. Investigations also revealed the temperature of the water he was found in was 128F.
When questioned by police, Wheatley reportedly said he briefly left the bathroom to smoke a cigarette and found Graham playing with the water nozzles while in the tub when he returned.
He also claimed to have a medical condition that caused him to fall asleep while sitting down, according to WMAR, and that the next thing he remembered was being awoken by Offer.
To explain bruises allegedly found on Graham’s body, the boyfriend said he would play fight with him but the six-year-old bruised easily because of his “light skin.”
Meanwhile, Offer reportedly admitted physically punishing her son several times over the days before her son’s death, alleging that Wheately had as well.
The mother supposedly began beating her son earlier last week after he took money from her wallet, smacking and punching him “with a closed fist multiple times,” with Wheatley continuing “the physical discipline after her,” reported WMAR per the charging documents.
However, she blamed her boy’s bruised body on him play fighting with his eight-year-old brother, who police reportedly found at the home unable to move his left arm and with injuries to his face. Child Protective Services now have custody of Graham’s brother.
Offer and Wheatley are in jail without bond and scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
