Mother, Boyfriend Charged With Murder Of One-Year-Old
MAYWOOD, Ill. (CBS) -- Murder charges have been filed against a Maywood woman and her boyfriend, who both appeared in court today accused of killing the woman's 1-year-old son before faking his abduction prompting an Amber Alert earlier this week, reports WBBM's Mike Krauser.
Prosecutors say Lakeshia Baker beat her son Bryeon Hunter to death. They say she regularly beat the boy with a belt and made him sit long periods of time on the toilet.
When the boy died on April 16, prosecutors say. Baker and her boyfriend Michael Scott made a plan to tell police the boy had been kidnapped by three Hispanic men and she even picked three out in a police mug book.
Mother, Boyfriend Charged With Murder Of One-Year-Old
Police quickly figured out it was not the case.
"I think it is horrific. We are talking about a 20-month-old child and to be continuously beaten and left on the toilet, you could just imagine what this child has gone through," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.
Baker had two black eyes in court which she claimed were from the abduction but according to prosecutors that was the result of an earlier beating by Michael Scott.
"She denies all of this stuff. She has been abused and beaten on a regular basis," said Irv Frasen, Baker's lawyer.
Baker and Scott, according to prosecutors, accused each other of dumping the body which has not been found.
The couple appeared in bond court Saturday and Baker was held without bond and Scott's bond was set at $750,000.
