Chicago Area Local News

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― A woman who was supposed to be caring for her cousin's 4-year-old son severely beat the Chicago boy to death as two of her own children held him down and another watched, all because he soiled his pants, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Carla Cherisse Poole, 37, was charged with second-degree intentional murder in the death of Demond Keith Reed, whose body was found during a police search of her home Sunday, stuffed in a green canvas bag that was wrapped inside a black plastic bag. She was being held on $1 million bail.
  
Poole "brutally beat him in front of three of her own children," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told reporters. "Poole then made up stories about someone (who) had allegedly abducted this young man, which turned out to false, sending the police on a wild goose chase.
  
"The death of Demond is tragic in itself. Having that death and beating observed by a 4-year-old, a 6-year-old and an 11-year-old just compounds the tragedy," Freeman said.
  
An autopsy found multiple bruises on Demond's head, body and extremities; injuries inside his mouth that were consistent with a blunt object being shoved in it; rib fractures; puncture wounds on his stomach, back and buttocks; a large hematoma on his left eye; a bite mark on his stomach; and bleeding inside his brain, the criminal complaint said.
  
"It couldn't be any worse," Police Chief Tim Dolan said.
  
Poole could not be reached for comment as prisoners at the county jail are not allowed to take calls. Freeman said he expected she would be assigned a public defender at her first court appearance Wednesday.
  
Poole's four children are now in protective custody. Freeman said there was no evidence that she had ever seriously abused them before they witnessed the fatal beating. The 6-year-old told police Poole had told him and the 4-year-old to hold Demond down by the arms while she beat him.
  
"I can't imagine the level of therapy and understanding and nurturing these kids have got to have," Freeman said.
  
Freeman said the county will move as quickly as possible to terminate Poole's parental rights, notify the children's fathers, and decide whether there's enough evidence of premeditation to ask a grand jury for a first-degree murder indictment.
  
Demond came to Minneapolis around Christmas with his father, Tony Reed, who left Demond in Poole's care after he was arrested on an unrelated matter Jan. 22. He remained in the county workhouse the weekend of Feb. 1, when the complaint alleges Demond was beaten.
  
Poole told her 11-year-old daughter last Wednesday to call Demond's relatives and say he was missing, the complaint alleges. Poole told police at the time that a friend named Shawna had taken the boy without her knowledge or consent -- a story authorities now say was a lie.
  
As alleged by the complaint and authorities, the 11-year-old told police Saturday that her mother had "spanked" Demond after he soiled his pants. The girl said he had a seizure and began vomiting. She said his health deteriorated over the next several hours, and that Poole discussed calling 911 but decided against it because she was afraid.
  
Demond then stopped breathing, and Poole's efforts to revive him with CPR failed. The 11-year-old said Poole put a blanket over the boy and left him on a bed for about two days before stashing him in a closet. Police then got a search warrant and brought in a cadaver-sniffing dog for a second time, and found Demond's body early Sunday. Poole's fingerprints were on the plastic bag, the complaint said.
  
Police said a homicide investigator interviewed Poole after advising her of her rights. She initially claimed "Shawna" took Demond, then claimed another child had beaten the boy, and finally confessed, the complaint alleged.
  
Lt. Amelia Huffman, head of the homicide unit, said the reason police and cadaver dogs didn't find the boy in an earlier search of the house Friday probably was due to the large number of bags and boxes in the house, which she said likely prevented them from picking up any scent.

(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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