5-year-old watched while his brother was beaten to death
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A 5-year-old boy who watched as his older brother was beaten to death has been placed in the care of his aunt, who said she is concerned for the child's mental health.
Crystal McKee said she will seek counseling for Vincere McKee, who confided some of what he witnessed to his 10-year-old cousin as the children struggled to grasp the death of 11-year-old Donovan McKee.
Police said Donovan was beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend over a nine-hour period Saturday in their Knoxville apartment, while she was at work and while Vincere looked on.
"[Vincere] said that Donovan told him that that was the worst pain, when he got hit in the head," Ms. McKee said. "That's what he told my daughter. My daughter said, 'Well, did you hold him?' He said, 'Yeah, I held my brother.' And she said, 'Well, that's good. Donovan's in a better place now. He feels no pain.' "
The pain on Monday was endured by relatives who grew close to Donovan in his short life, which by their accounts was troubled from the start.
Compounding their grief were questions about how hours of abuse -- and what police described as signs of earlier injuries on Donovan's body -- could go unnoticed or unreported.
Investigators were trying to decide whether charges were warranted against Donovan's mother, Cynthia McKee, 31, who police said returned to the apartment on Knox Avenue at 10 p.m. She called relatives first and then called 911 at 11:41 p.m., police said. She said her boyfriend, Anthony Lee Bush, 29, had assaulted her son, who was unresponsive. Mr. Bush was charged with homicide and child endangerment.
"The mother of the child is also a victim, but we are going to review the facts and see if in any way she helped to facilitate the abuse of this child received prior to and on the day of his death," said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney's office, which is trying to determine whether the case qualifies for capital punishment.
First Published February 14, 2012 12:00 am
