Ashnbri
10-04-2007, 04:23 PM
Even investigators are shocked that a mother would have 8-year-old Levares Key's own siblings hold him down while she allegedly beat him, a lesson that apparently led 13-year-old Demetrius Key to kill his own brother. But just as disturbing is the revelation that Tangela Key, mother of at least a half-dozen kids, said she's pregnant again.
"And I'm suing every last one of you all too," Tangela Key yelled at reporters Thursday as she was transported out of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Five months pregnant and charged with aggravated child neglect, Tangela had little to say about the death of her 8-year-old son. Investigators said the woman used older children to restrain Levares Key during what were described as "discipline sessions."
"They didn't just see it, they participated. We have talked to the other children and we've learned that there were occasions when she would beat Levares and the other children would restrain him. They would, one child would hold Levares' arms, the other would hold his legs and they would hold him off the ground while she hit him," explained Sgt. John Allen, Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Levares spent almost all of his eight years in the loving care of his godmother, Penny Blackmon, who says the boy was taken away illegally by Tangela Key in June. That is when a seemingly systematic abuse ritual began for the boy inside a Texas Avenue apartment, ending with his death when 13-year-old brother Demetrius brutally beat him for eating a dessert he wasn't supposed to eat.
Detectives said Tangela knew of her son's violent tendency.
"She was aware of Demetrius' propensity to harm Levares," Allen said.
Charges could be added against Tangela, including child abuse charges and possibly failing to render aid to the boy the day he died.
Demetrius Key was scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday on first-degree murder charges, but that hearing was postponed until Friday.
http://www.wftv.com/news/14268642/detail.html
"And I'm suing every last one of you all too," Tangela Key yelled at reporters Thursday as she was transported out of the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Five months pregnant and charged with aggravated child neglect, Tangela had little to say about the death of her 8-year-old son. Investigators said the woman used older children to restrain Levares Key during what were described as "discipline sessions."
"They didn't just see it, they participated. We have talked to the other children and we've learned that there were occasions when she would beat Levares and the other children would restrain him. They would, one child would hold Levares' arms, the other would hold his legs and they would hold him off the ground while she hit him," explained Sgt. John Allen, Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Levares spent almost all of his eight years in the loving care of his godmother, Penny Blackmon, who says the boy was taken away illegally by Tangela Key in June. That is when a seemingly systematic abuse ritual began for the boy inside a Texas Avenue apartment, ending with his death when 13-year-old brother Demetrius brutally beat him for eating a dessert he wasn't supposed to eat.
Detectives said Tangela knew of her son's violent tendency.
"She was aware of Demetrius' propensity to harm Levares," Allen said.
Charges could be added against Tangela, including child abuse charges and possibly failing to render aid to the boy the day he died.
Demetrius Key was scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday on first-degree murder charges, but that hearing was postponed until Friday.
http://www.wftv.com/news/14268642/detail.html