Inset: Elious Rayne (GoFundMe). Background: Laron Gardner (WDRB).
A Kentucky man is behind bars after he allegedly kicked, slammed and bit his 5-year-old son before throwing him down the stairs which led to the boy”s death.
Laron D. Gardner Jr., 24, stands accused of murder, first-degree child abuse and assault, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department. Cops responded shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday to a home in the 2900 block of Conestoga Avenue for a report of a 5-year-old boy who suffered “traumatic injuries due to a fall.” Paramedics rushed the boy to a children’s hospital where he died on Wednesday.
Further investigation revealed the boy’s injuries were not consistent with a fall. An autopsy determined the boy, identified as Elious Rayne, “numerous severe injuries to multiple areas of his body, which caused his death,” local CBS affiliate WLKY reported, citing an arrest affidavit.
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Gardner was reportedly alone with Elious and his sister at the time. The sister told authorities Gardner kicked, slammed and bit the boy before pushing him down the stairs.
Cops arrested Gardner on Friday. A judge on Saturday set Gardner’s bond at $1 million cash. He remains in the custody of Louisville Metro Corrections.
“There’s no question that Mr. Gardner is a danger to this community and a danger to victims that remain in the household that he was in and possibly to the community at large,” the judge said, per WLKY.
He has a court date scheduled for Sept. 15.
The boy’s family started a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral costs.
“Not only have we lost Eli, we had to find out the way it happened,” the fundraiser said.
