Authorities in Memphis say a 29-year-old woman has confessed to a horrifying sequence of abuse that led to the death of her boyfriend’s 3-year-old son, a case already drawing widespread outrage across Tennessee.
Dominica Mosby is accused of torturing young Kevin Horton before fatally beating him, according to charging documents reviewed by investigators.
Police say Mosby admitted to burning the child with a cigarette, scorching his ear and genitals with a lighter, and repeatedly striking him before stomping on his stomach with the heel of her boot.
Kevin’s father, Keith Horton, said he encountered Mosby outside the home when he arrived on Friday. “I get to the house, she’s standing outside,” Horton told WHBQ. Inside, he found his son unresponsive.
“I go in there to see my son, he’s ice cold, he’s purple,” he said. “He had been dead.”
Mosby allegedly told police the boy had been feeling sick and vomiting after being dropped off by an aunt earlier that morning. That version of events is strongly disputed.
“He was never sick,” the aunt, Jasmine Reece said. “That was just a story she told to get her story together, to put in people’s heads that he was sick leaving my house. The whole time, he wasn’t sick.”
Investigators say Mosby reported waking up around 3 a.m. on Saturday to find the child unresponsive. Kevin was pronounced dead at the scene. A medical examiner’s report cites a lacerated liver, internal bleeding, extensive bruising, and burn marks on his ear and genitals.
Mosby was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. She is being held without bond and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday as the investigation continues.
A GoFundMe has been set up by Reece.
