TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A 6-year-old boy who was found unconscious with his head inside a toilet bowl at a motel in Florida last month has died, WESH reported.
According to WESH, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Knights Inn in Kissimmee on July 5 after Bianca Blaise called 911 from the motel and said her son was unconscious and his “head was in the toilet like he was drinking water.”
Deputies arrived at the motel and found the boy unconscious. There were five other children inside the room who all showed signs of being abused.
“Dead skin cells from being hurt so badly, just horrible injuries on all of the children. From 10 months to five years old. Not only their age but the extent of the injuries to the surviving children,” Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Detective Suzanne Clouchete said.
Officials said the boy had no pulse, and his eyes were badly swollen.
Officers administered CPR, then the child was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. Doctors said he had suffered life-threatening brain bleed, according to the report.
Blaise and her boyfriend, Larry Rhodes, were initially arrested on child abuse charges. On Wednesday morning, WESH reported the 6-year-old boy had died, and the charges were upgraded.
Sheriff Marcos Lopez said investigators learned the parents were angry the child was drinking toilet water, and took turns beating him.
“Maybe he was thirsty, he was just trying to survive,” Lopez told reporters Wednesday.
Neighbors told deputies they did not hear any commotion coming from the room.
“The only thing I can think is they were beaten so much, they weren’t crying anymore,” Lopez said. “These people are savages.”
Blaise and Rhodes were both charged with murder and child abuse.
The other children were placed in foster care, according to the report.
