US2 min(s) read
Published 11:30 12 Aug 2026 GMT
A seven-year-old boy who was subjected to torturous abuse by his mother and her two lovers has had his horrific cause of death revealed.
The boy, William Michael Evans from Oakley, Cincinnati, was found dead last week, leading his mother and her two partners to be charged with his murder.
William, who resided with his mom, Kaitlin Evans, 38, as well as her two partners, Nessa Kearney, 23, and Kirby Rankin, 33, had been discovered duct-taped with severe bruising.
Dr Lakshmi Sammarco, a Hamilton County Coroner, revealed the extent of the injuries incurred by William.
She disclosed that William had sustained fatal blunt-force trauma to his head, as well as several other injuries across his body - with Sammarco admitting there were "too many bruises to count."
Other injuries included an acute fracture to the distal humerus - a bone that connects the elbow to the upper arm- damage that would have required a "fair amount of force" from the perpetrator(s).
Further chilling details revealed that some of the injuries present were consistent with possible sexual assault, with investigators refusing to rule out possible sexual assault charges.
The coroner claimed that when officials found William’s body, he had likely been dead for at least a day, with his remains discovered inside a closet, where he had been restrained and duct-taped.
Investigators have since claimed that William’s injuries were consistent with repeated physical abuse, and had been subjected to water torture, burns, as well as being struck in the back of the head.
William’s biological mother refutes the allegations against her, with her lawyer claiming that the perpetrator was one of her lovers — who are both believed to be biologically male - although which of the other two accused remains unknown.
During the initial hearing, William’s other biological parent, his father, was given permission to address his son's mother.
The father, whose identity has not been released publicly, said to her blankly: “I trusted you.”
Grieving his grandson’s death, William’s distraught grandfather, Michael Evans said: “William was the light of our life. We will never get over losing him or stop imagining the pain and terror that he must have endured.”
The investigation into William’s death remains ongoing.
