N.Y. couple convicted of beating 5-year-old boy 'from head to toe,' causing his death
03/25/2024 11:58 am PDT
NEW YORK (TCD) -- A woman and her boyfriend, both 28, have recently been convicted of killing her 5-year-old son by beating and injuring him with various objects in 2021.
The Suffolk County District Attorney announced Friday, March 22, that a jury found Valerie Owusu and Emmanuel Addae guilty of the second-degree murder of King Owusu. Valerie Owusu and Addae face up to 25 years to life in prison and will be sentenced in May.
According to prosecutors, between March 30 and April 1, 2021, Valerie Owusu and Addae "brutally beat" the victim with "at least four different instruments" inside their home. The child's condition worsened over the course of three days, until he eventually lost consciousness. Valerie Owusu and Addae witnessed the victim's physical deterioration but failed to call 911, take the victim to the hospital, or provide medical care.
The district attorney's office said the defendants brought King Owusu to a relative's home on April 1, 2021, where they "left him there to die." The family member reportedly came home to find the victim dead and called the Suffolk County Police Department, who responded to the scene. The child was transported to Southside Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
According to the district attorney's office, the medical examiner determined King Owusu had been "beaten from head to toe," and his injuries, "which were too numerous to count, caused his death."
Valerie Owusu and Addae were charged in the boy's death in mid-April 2022, over a year later, due to jurisdiction challenges and the thoroughness of the investigation, WABC-TV reports.
The defendants reportedly share another child, who was put under the supervision of Suffolk County Child Protective Services.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said, "This little boy was beaten and suffered for days at the hands of these defendants, one of whom was his own mother, until he unfortunately succumbed to his severe and extensive injuries."
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