Police: Alabama 9-year-old beat brother with broom prior to his death
Published 4:04 pm Tuesday, February 8, 2022
A 9-year-old Alabama girl has been charged with assault in relation to her younger brother’s death after authorities say she beat him with a broomstick.
The Mobile County District Attorney’s Office confirmed the charge Monday, news outlets reported. Officers said they reported to a home in Mobile on Thursday and found the 4-year-old unresponsive upon arrival. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records show that Yolanda Coale, the boy’s aunt and legal guardian, said she woke up that morning to the sound of the children screaming. She said she found the girl hitting her brother with a broom. The documents say the girl “did willfully torture, willfully abuse and cruelly beat” the boy, according to WPMI-TV.
Coale, 53, was arrested last week on an aggravated child abuse charge and her bond was set at $150,000. It wasn’t immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
The court records show the boy had other bruises on his body and that while it’s unclear how he received them, they indicated long-term abuse. An autopsy will determine the child’s cause of death.