A COUPLE has been charged over the death of a South Carolina toddler whose remains were found buried in 180 kilograms of concrete in a rubbish bin.
The child’s body was found two days after police said a father and his girlfriend allegedly concocted a story about the man’s son falling into a harbour near a popular tourist destination.
Roger Williams, 29, and Grace Nichole Trotman, 24, have been charged with homicide by child abuse.
An autopsy revealed the concrete held the body of a young boy who matched the description the couple had given Charleston police for Mr Williams’ missing son, Rodricus Williams, said Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt.
Investigators were awaiting the results of a DNA test to confirm that the boy found in the bin was Rodricus.
Rodricus had been staying with his father and Ms Trotman when his mother unexpectedly called wanting to see her son, police said.
Rodricus’ mother was told she could pick him up on Tuesday at the Battery in Charleston, a tourist area on the city’s peninsula, which is about 30 kilometres from where police believe the boy was killed.
The couple claimed the boy had fallen from the Battery into Charleston Harbour, touching off a more than 10-hour search by police and rescue workers on foot, and by boat and helicopter.
“It was a concocted story,” Sheriff DeWitt said.
Police think Rodricus was killed at Ms Trotman’s Summerville home. They do not know exactly how long the boy had been dead.
“We do know days, maybe longer,” Sheriff DeWitt said.
Interviews with Ms Trotman and Mr Williams led police to the rubbish bin, which was behind an abandoned mobile home in a rural area surrounded by small homes and cornfields.
Sheriff DeWitt said the boy’s body was inside rubbish bags and the concrete was poured on top. He said investigators think the boy was dead before he was put in the bin.
Rodricus had been admitted to a Charleston hospital several times, and Sheridd DeWitt said he had been beaten before.
“During interviews, there was some talk about the child being struck on occasions,” he said.
“Our interpretation is, it was not by accident.”
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