After the child’s death, Utah officials said items were removed from the home, surfaces were repainted and rooms were altered …
A Utah couple have been accused of torturing their 11-year-old son to death, as a GoFundMe launched just days after the child’s passing said his family experienced an “unexpected passing.”
Brigham Merrell, 35, was booked Wednesday into the Box Elder County Jail on suspicion of child abuse homicide and child torture after allegedly calling 911 on September 21 to report seeing his “minor child hanging by a coaxial cable,” according to a Tremonton-Garland police affidavit cited by KSL. His wife, Melinda Merrell, 36, was also booked on suspicion of child torture.
During a months-long investigation, police said Brigham Merrell gave inconsistent accounts about who found the boy, the position he was in and the events leading up to his death, KSL reports. Investigators said those discrepancies, along with camera footage from inside the home, led to the couple’s arrests.
In a news release, police said that they will not identify the child who was killed “out of respect for the victim’s dignity.” Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign, created by user LaDaune Vonk, identified the child as Moroni and described his death as an “unexpected passing,” saying he was “prematurely taken from this earth” and asking for help covering funeral costs. The fundraiser had raised about $7,400 toward a $9,000 goal as of publication.
“If you didn’t get the chance to know Moroni, you would have found him to be extremely kind and loving with his 5 siblings,” the GoFundMe reads. “He loved to play video games and all things outdoors.”
Brigham Merrell and Melinda Merrell allegedly tortured their children with punishments including including food restriction, beatings with belts and pans that caused bruising and children being sent to stay in an outdoor dog run (Getty/iStock)
“This has been a very devastating time for the Merrell family,” the fundraiser added.
However, police say the boy and his siblings, some of whom were home at the time of his death, endured prolonged abuse and disturbing punishments inside the home. One child told investigators they witnessed the victim die after receiving a “whooping” from Brigham Merrell, according to the affidavit seen by KLSN.
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“During interviews with the children, friends of the children, the suspect and his wife, we also found yearslong allegations of child abuse and child torture, which included food restriction, admittance of corporal punishment that resulted in bruising when belts, pans and other items were used to whip, as well as allegations that the children are sent out to stay in an outside dog run when they are in trouble,” the affidavit states, per the outlet.
When Brigham Merrell called 911 on September 21, he claimed he was performing CPR on his son, but officers arrived to find him kneeling without providing aid, according to an affidavit. The child was later pronounced dead at a hospital after emergency responders treated him.
Investigators said home surveillance footage contradicted Merrell’s account. The camera footage is said to show him moving the child’s body through the house and past emergency responders attempting to access to property. He also left the room to change clothes during treatment, which police described as potentially concealing evidence.
After the incident, police reportedly learned that items had been discarded from the home, surfaces repainted and rooms altered.
A forensic exam found injuries and ligature marks inconsistent with hanging, along with bruising on the child’s back that may have occurred near the time of death. Both parents denied knowing the cause, though Brigham Merrell suggested it “could be from a belt.”
Melinda Merrell allegedly told investigators she checked her children for bruises days after whippings to “adjust their methods,” including switching from spoons to pans because the spoons left marks, police said. Both parents admitted to the abuse and stated they should have looked into the laws in Utah before they moved here. Melinda, specifically, stated she was not taught that leaving marks on her children was not acceptable,” according to the affidavit.
Video footage showed Melinda either participating in the beatings or watching as Brigham Merrell carried them out, investigators said.
The other children from the home have been placed in the care of child welfare agencies, KSL reports.
Source: Utah News