Florida authorities said that an Osceola County couple had fatally beaten their 6-year-old son last month for drinking out of a toilet.
Bianca Blaise and Larry Rhodes Jr. were charged with the murder of their child that occurred on July 5 at a hotel.
Blaise reportedly called 911 to report that the victim “was drinking water out of the toilet and drowned.”
“The child was transported to the hospital where he was placed on life-support for life-threatening injuries,” OC Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez said.
“Throughout our investigation, it was learned the child was drinking from the toilet, but that had nothing to do with why he wasn’t breathing.”
Lopez continued: “First, the mother beat him, then the father started repeatedly punching this little boy with a closed fist.”
“He punched him multiple times, to the head, to the stomach area. This little 6-year-old child, it was determined that he suffered a brain bleed and a lacerated liver. The little boy, unfortunately, passed away a few days later.”
Lopez added that the couple’s other five children, including a 10-month-old, all suffered injuries and looked neglected.
“You could tell they were abused simply by looking at them. They also looked malnourished,” Lopez said.
“During the investigation, we learned that their parents would send them to the corner of the hotel room and beat them with the bottom of a shoe.”
