Child saw fatal beating of 4-year-old, police say

When the father of 4-year-old Demond Reed was ordered to the Hennepin County workhouse for a probation violation last Tuesday, he left the little boy with a cousin in north Minneapolis.

Within 24 hours, police say, the cousin -- a known drug user who had been investigated in 2006 after a baby in her care ended up burned and with broken bones -- had beaten Demond to death in front of one of her own children, shoved his crumpled body into a plastic garbage bag and stashed it in a closet in her duplex under piles of junk and a Christmas tree.

The 37-year-old cousin, who reported Demond missing to police on Wednesday night, now sits in jail. Her own four children, who range in age from 4 to 11, are in protective custody.

The child who saw the beating gave police a statement that led to her arrest, police said Monday. Murder charges are expected to be filed against her today.

The boy's death, discovered early Sunday, shocked family members, neighborhood residents and even seasoned police officers.

Ron Edwards, co-chairman of the Minneapolis Police Community Relations Council, said relatives told him the woman had a drug problem and may have killed Demond after relatives didn't pay her the couple of hundred dollars she wanted for taking care of him.

Police became aware of a situation on Wednesday when the suspect called 911 claiming that the boy had been abducted from the duplex at 3118 Morgan Av. N. She told police he had been taken by an acquaintance of the family.

After the 911 call, police undertook an extensive search for Demond. On Friday, officers and a police dog failed to pick up the boy's scent in the area. The next day, authorities went door-to-door with Demond's picture. His body was found overnight Saturday when police did another search of the duplex.

Demond's paternal grandmother, Charmon Brown, a Chicagoan who traveled to Minneapolis this week, said she was troubled that the cousin kept changing her story on what happened to the child. The cousin asked Brown to "pray for her because they want to arrest me and take my children."

Brown said she and other family members met Monday with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

Lt. Amelia Huffman, head of the Minneapolis homicide unit, said the suspect beat Demond until he became ill and then sought no medical help for him. Demond's body has been officially identified by the Hennepin County medical examiner's officer, but the exact cause of death has not been released.

A disturbing history

She has no criminal history in Minnesota. However, in 2006, she was investigated for child abuse allegations involving the baby of a friend who lived with her, police said. The baby had multiple broken bones and burns. No charges were filed because other adults were in the room when the baby was injured and it couldn't be proved who was responsible.

Demond, whose mother had given parental rights to his father, Chicago native Tony Reed, was in the woman's care when Tony Reed was ordered to the Hennepin County workhouse for a probation violation in a fifth-degree felony drug charge from July. It was a 30-day sentence, but he was released Friday for time already served in jail.

Deborah Huskins, head of Hennepin County's child protection services, said Monday that she can't speak about specific cases but that in general, if a child dies in the care of a relative, protection services involve police and the courts in removing other children from the household until further investigation can find a safe place for them.

"This is a horrible situation," she said.