Police: 'When I See A Kid, Who Is Almost 8, And Weighs 27 Pounds, I've Got A Problem With That'
DETROIT (WWJ) - The boy's body was allegedly covered "from head to toe" with bruises and abrasions, although a cause of death wasn't immediately clear. Police say marks on Immanuel Foster's body are consistent with child abuse.
Investigators searched the boy's home, and possibly where his injuries occurred, near the corner of Richton and 14th streets. The home is located in a west side neighborhood along Rosa Parks Boulevard, between Chicago Boulevard and the Davison Freeway.
Assist Police Chief, Steve Dolunt says Foster was malnourished and had bruises all over his body that had been there for a while.
"When I see a kid, who is almost eight, and weighs 27 pounds, I've got a problem with that, so once they get a confession - fine. If they get a confession -- whatever he admits to is fine," said Dolunt. "But as a parent, grandparent, I'm sorry, I have a problem with that."
The mother, who was out of town, is also being questioned by police. Her side of the family is speaking out.
"We want to know why this boy got these other bruises; his feet was black with a toe missing - that's what y'all don't have," said a family member.
"That baby was tortured and shouldn't nobody have to live like that and she really trusted him - that's she didn't just leave him with somebody she didn't know - she knew him and now he gone and we down here trying to find out she's arrested - we don't know what's going on," said Kimberly Wilburn, the mother's aunt.
The owner of the home, Allen Rimson, said his 27-year-old son was living there with the boy's mother and her three children. He told WWJ's Charlie Langton Thursday morning that the boy was apparently ill for a few days, and having trouble keeping food down.
"He just was sick, was throwing up all over the house and stuff this morning, but he had been doing that for the last few days because he been eating raw food, you know, eating raw food and stuff like that," he said.
Rimson said he just can't make any sense of the allegations of child abuse.
"That's what my daughter was telling me but my son wouldn't have, he don't abuse no kids, you know, he loves kids," he said.
Instead, Rimson believes the boy might have been injured when trying to reach the bathroom.
Police continue to investigate.
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