WFCN –
According to the authorities, a woman and her boyfriend from Michigan are facing multiple charges related to the fatal abuse of their 6-year-old kid.
Elaina Rose Jennings, 25, and Daniel John Giacchina, 32, both from Madison Heights, Mich., were charged at a press conference on Friday, Aug. 9, with first-degree murder and child abuse in relation to the death of 6-year-old Giovanni “Chulo” Jennings that occurred in July, according to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald.
According to McDonald, the pair subjected the youngster to extreme abuse and battered him frequently. The boy was also “confined, beaten, and bound to the wall using a staple gun.” The prosecution asserted that Jennings was aware of her son’s severe injuries, but she refrained from obtaining medical treatment for him out of fear that others would learn of the supposed abuse.
By 2:35 p.m. on July 30, Jennings had reported that her son was not breathing to 911, according to McDonald. While emergency personnel did their best to get the youngster to a hospital, he passed away at approximately midnight on July 31.
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After “a lengthy period of confinement and abuse,” the youngster died from blunt force damage to his belly and a perforated colon, according to McDonald, who said that an autopsy had confirmed the cause of death. He was found guilty of murder. Photo evidence from the autopsy revealed extensive bruising and cuts, according to McDonald.
Although Giacchina was the one who left Chulo that day to go to work, McDonald said that Jennings and Giacchina colluded to convince the authorities that Chulo’s father had last seen him. There was no involvement of the boy’s father in the alleged assault, according to investigators who spoke with him.
According to McDonald, the couple allegedly confined the 6-year-old kid to a pen in a corner of their bedroom. He was left to sleep on a wooden slat measuring 11 inches by 36 inches. Chulo allegedly had a black curtain put up to block his view of the outside world and barriers put up to hold him in place.
Several times, Giacchina beat Chulo, according to McDonald. “Although the abuse occasionally occurred while Jennings was on the clock, Jennings was cognizant of the situation, condoned the physical attacks, and occasionally even directed Giacchina to maltreat Chulo.”
What Giacchina and Jennings referred to as “the corner”—the space where Chulo was housed—was monitored by a home security system that Giacchina allegedly bought and installed on the wall, as reported by McDonald. According to the prosecutor, the couple enjoyed watching footage of Chulo attempting to drink, urinate, or escape from the imprisonment.
Giacchina allegedly used staples to bind Chulo’s clothing to the wall and squeezed his head into a corner as punishment for “looking out the window in the pen area,” according to McDonald, in the days leading up to his unexpected lack of response.
When Giacchina “solved the problem,” as McDonald claims he did, he allegedly emailed Jennings, attaching a photo of the boy to the pen. In McDonald’s account, Jennings and Giacchina were both laughing in the photo. Some of the abuse, according to McDonald, included shooting Chulo with a BB pistol.
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Reports indicate that detectives discovered projectile holes in the walls, a 9mm ghost gun, a BB gun, and a staple gun during their search of the residence where Jennings, Chulo, her two other small children, and Giacchina resided, according to McDonald.
A photo of Giacchina with children holding BB guns and handguns was purportedly also discovered by the authorities. The second photo seems to show two kids aiming the rifle toward a third one.
According to what McDonald stated, Chulo’s brother, who is four years old, told detectives that Giacchina shot him and Chulo in the butt with a BB pistol. Danny, who was referring to Giacchina, was present when Chulo “died all day,” according to the boy.
Burger King claimed Jennings came clean later on the subject of Giacchina punching Chulo multiple times in the belly around three days before he passed away. Following the incident, Jennings allegedly told police that Chulo started vomiting and his condition worsened until she discovered him unresponsive in Giacchina’s company. McDonald claimed that this was due to the punches.
The murder and abuse charges are in addition to the charges that Jennings and Giacchina were arrested on last week. Jennings and Giacchina face a charge of lying to a police officer with Giacchina additionally facing firearm-related charges. It’s unclear if they have entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf.
Both are being held at the Oakland County Jail and were denied bond during a court hearing on Aug. 9, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office. A probable cause conference is scheduled for Aug. 21 in the 43rd District Court.
“All children have a right to grow up in a home free of fear,” McDonald said. “This child and his siblings suffered unimaginable abuse and lived in fear every day.
“My office, and the Madison Heights Police Department are committed to using every resource available to us to get justice for Chulo and hold the people responsible for this death accountable, and to seek punishment that reflects the horror of his death,” the prosecutor added.