A mother and her boyfriend are facing murder charges after the death of her six-year-old son came with allegations of “horrific” abuse including staples and a BB gun.
(Video Credit: WDIV)
On July 30, first responders were called to the Madison Heights, Michigan home of 25-year-old Elaina Rose Jennings when she reported that her six-year-old son, Giovanny “Chulo” Jennings, was not breathing.
After the boy was found unresponsive and ultimately succumbed to multiple injuries the following day, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced in a press conference Friday that the mother and her boyfriend, 32-year-old Daniel John Giacchina were each facing up to life in prison if found guilty of murder.
“After spending hundreds of hours carefully sifting through the evidence in this case, what we found can only be described as horrific,” explained McDonald of the review of text messages, Facebook conversations, videos, and photos. “Chulo was confined, beaten, and bound to the wall using a staple gun. He was badly injured, but he was not taken for medical treatment because his mother knew that a medical examination would reveal the abuse.”
According to the prosecutor’s findings, the boy was confined to a pen, made to sleep on a wooden slat in his mother’s bedroom in their mobile home and, allegedly with approval from the mother, “Chulo was beaten by Giacchina on multiple occasions,” including in front of his two younger siblings.
“While that abuse sometimes happened while Jennings was at work, Jennings was aware of it and approved of the physical assaults, and, at times, even encouraged Giacchina to abuse Chulo,” said McDonald.
Further details of the conditions the boy was allegedly made to endure included a black curtain and barricades installed on the pen and a camera used to monitor attempts to leave the corner, drink, or relieve himself, deemed “misbehaving” by the mother.
When the boyfriend was said to have used a staple gun to affix the child’s clothing to the wall with his face stuck up against the corner of the room, supposedly for “looking out the window in the pen area,” the prosecutor explained that he sent a photo to the mom. “Both Jennings and Giacchina laughed about the photo and Giacchina’s use of the staple gun to solve ‘the problem.'”
“It was clear from the evidence that we saw that there was a pattern of abuse that led to Chulo’s death,” McDonald noted as the autopsy detailed injuries to his back, buttocks, cheeks, chin, fingers, forearms, forehead, inner mouth, inner thighs, knees, lips, scalp, shins, shoulders, temples and thumbs prior to his death which was attributed to blunt force trauma to his abdomen and a perforated bowel following his lengthy confinement and abuse.
“Chulo had pervasive bruising to his abdomen, which was also bloated and distended,” she said. “He had an apparent BB wound to his shin. First responders and emergency room personnel noted extensive external injuries, as well.”
“Defendant Jennings is now charged with Murder, 1st Degree Child Abuse, and Lying to a Police Officer,” stated McDonald.
The mother claimed the boy’s biological father had been in custody the day he was hospitalized.
“Defendant Giacchina is charged with Murder, 1st Degree Child Abuse, Possession of Ammunition by a Felon, Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, Felony Firearm, and Lying to a Police Officer,” McDonald added.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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