A San Antonio couple are accused of beating a 12-year-old boy to death who was in their care because the child showed disrespect, according to a News4SA report.
Derrick Coles, 32, the boy’s father, and Kapri Cheatom, 27, were arrested Monday and charged with the first-degree felony of intentionally causing serious injury to a child, according to the TV station.
Less than a month ago, the pair took custody of the 6th grader after he was removed from his mother’s house in Chicago over allegations of abuse, News4 reports, citing police records.
Police were called to the couple’s apartment on Wurzbach Road at around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the station’s report. Officers found the boy unconscious, and Coles maintained the injury came from a fall in the shower. At the hospital, doctors determined that the child was brain dead.
The autopsy found that the injuries — which included internal bleeding, hanging skin and belt marks — were inconsistent with a fall, News4 reports. Coles eventually admitted to beating the boy with a belt after he could no longer do pushups as part of a punishment for being disrespectful, according to the station.
Coles and Cheatom are being held on a $150,000 bonds, according to the report.
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This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 8, 2022.