An Ohio mother and two other women are facing murder and child endangerment charges after her seven-year-old son, William Evans, was found dead in an apartment closet after being bound with duct tape. Kaitlin Evans, 38, Nessa Keaney, 23, and Kirby Rankin, 33, were each charged with murder and child endangerment in the case. William’s body was discovered on Thursday, August 6, according to WXIX, WCPO and WLWT.
Officers from the Cincinnati and Norwood Police Departments arrived at a home in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Oakley at around 1 pm after receiving a report of a disturbance. While they initially found William unresponsive, per WCPO, he was later pronounced dead.
Who was William Evans?
William was Kaitlin’s son, and the three women lived together in the home and co-parented him, prosecutors said during their arraignments in Hamilton County Municipal Court on Friday, August 7.
A longtime homicide detective told a judge that the child had mental disabilities, WXIX reported. He was found with “a number of injuries that would indicate physical beatings, blunt force injuries from a striking device on the face, torso, back, upper and lower extremities,” according to WCPO.
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The investigator said that in his 21 years of law enforcement experience, this case is “probably one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse” that he had seen.
“We believe the victim was choked underwater, held underwater for a long period of time. There was also some burn torture involved,” he alleged, adding that they believe “water torture” was involved.
The detective said that charges may be added based on the boy’s autopsy results and additional interviews with witnesses.
William’s grandparents, Mike and Tina Evans, told WLWT that the child was a loving boy who spent many of his Fridays and Saturdays with his “Nona and Pawpaw.” The grandparents claimed that about six weeks ago, when William was visiting them, he told them he did not want to go back. After that, the three women would not let them see their grandchild.
The grandparents said they last saw William about four weeks before his death, when they noticed a bruise on his shoulder. The grandparents met with an attorney and hired a private investigator on Wednesday.
Mike said that he had rented a car to stake out the house on Thursday. When he arrived, he saw police cars outside.
“The detective came over and told us the situation, and so he said, William died, and I said, ‘Well, what about Katelin?’ And he said, ‘She’s downtown being questioned,’ ” Mike recalled
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The detective said that Kirby disclosed her involvement in the “prolonged child abuse incident” and implicated the two other women as being “active participants.” Nessa’s attorney claimed that Nessa attempted to administer treatment to the child after he was injured by someone else in the house.
A judge has ordered a competency hearing for Kirby for early September.
The three women pleaded not guilty. A bond for all three suspects was set at $1.1 million.
Shocking 911 call
Hours before William’s body was discovered, an employee at the Rookwood emergency department called 911 after Kaitlin arrived at the facility. Kaitlin walked into the emergency room at Mercy Health Rookwood barefoot and kept saying that her partner was trying to kill her and took her son, revealed a 911 call recording obtained by The Enquirer.
“We have somebody that came in and kind of just dropped herself on the floor. She’s barefoot. She thinks that her partner’s trying to kill her, that they took her son,” the caller said.
“Who took her son?” the dispatcher asked.
“Kirby Rankin. My partner,” Kaitlin said.
The caller added, “She’s saying that he’s hiding him up in the attic. She is sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth and barefoot.”
Police eventually found William in a closet. He was bound and duct-taped, with signs he had been abused and tortured.
