The V.I. Police Department on Sunday arrested a mother and her boyfriend in the death of a four-year-old St. Croix boy.
The boy was identified by his grandmother as Aaron Benjamin Jr. His mother, 29-year-old Delicia Daniel, and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Kyle Christopher, were arrested. According to police Christopher was charged with child abuse and Daniel with child neglect. Both were remanded to the Bureau of Corrections Detention Center pending an advice of rights hearing.
According to the police report, on Friday the 911 emergency call center received a call from the Lorraine Village Housing Community, in Grove Place on St. Croix, reporting an unresponsive 4-year-old male. At the scene, officers and emergency medical technicians discovered the body of an unresponsive boy inside the apartment on the bathroom floor. CPR was administered by medical attendants unsuccessfully.
Medical personnel reported that the minor had been badly abused, malnourished and had different stages of lacerations about his body, the police report said.
The investigation remains open, police said. Additional charges may be pending based on the medical examiner’s report or findings.