Photo: GoFundMe
The godmother of a 4-year-old boy whose remains were found in the backyard of an Ohio home is accused along with her boyfriend of murdering the child.
The couple had allegedly been on the run since a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury indicted them in January on murder charges.
On Sept. 20, 2017, Eliazar’s skeletal remains were found in a garbage bag in the backyard of a vacant Cleveland, Ohio, home, according to the statement.
For months, the identity of the deceased child remained a mystery,News 5,Fox8andCleveland.comreport. In December 2017, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office announced that while they were unable to determine a cause of death, the body belonged a 4-year-old boy, and the office ruled his manner of death a homicide.
Unable to identify him, authorities released a forensic sketch of the boy and didn’t get a break until January 2018 when his mother, Ashley Makuhan, saw the sketch on the news and called police, the stations report.
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Makuhan told police Eliazar was put into the care of Vega, his godmother, when she was sent to prison in 2015, Cleveland.com reports. After calling police, Makuhan gave investigators a DNA sample, which came back positive.
“My son was an amazing kid,”Makuhan told Cleveland.com in an interview from behind bars. “He was always so happy. I can’t wait until the person involved in this is brought to justice.”
Joanna Vega and Romaine Tolbert.Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department
The home where his body was found was under renovation after having been abandoned, neighbors told Cleveland.com. A tree pruner found the garbage bag containing Eliazar’s body tucked under shrubs in the yard, according to the U.S. Marshals.
It’s unclear whether Vega or Tolbert have retained attorneys or entered pleas. They will be extradited back to Cleveland, where they face several charges including murder, gross abuse of a corpse and child endangerment, according to the U.S. Marshals.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go towww.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
