An Ohio mother, according to police, said she tried to leave her 6-year-old son in a local park, dragged him down the pavement when he tried to get back in the car and then threw the boy’s lifeless body into the river the next day, he confessed to killing the boy, but has shown few remorse, the Middletown police chief revealed Monday.
Brittany Gosney, 29, is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and manipulation of evidence. Police say Gosney’s other two children, both sophomores, were in the car at the time of the murder, but were unharmed. Since then, they have been placed in foster care, according to authorities.
“This has really touched my soul and heart,” Police Chief David Birk said at a news conference Monday. “My kids are older, but my little one is 16, but I’m just sitting there, the poor six-year-old has no idea what’s going on and what’s going on, and the other kids are too. passin. . It’s just heartbreaking. “
Birk said Gosney indicated he also planned to leave the other two. Gosney reportedly lost custody of a fourth child who had been in state care since before the murder of the 6-year-old.
An arrest report provided to The Daily Beast by the Middletown PD says Gosney “admitted that he had taken his son, James Robert Hutchinson, to Rush Run Park, Preble County, where he placed him outside his vehicle. “. After forcing him out of the car, Gosney told Detective John Hoover that the boy “tried to get back in the vehicle and drove at a high speed, dragging the boy a distance. The defendant then left the park and returned approximately 30 to 40 minutes later, finding the child in the center of the parking lot with a head injury.
Gosney then took his son’s remains home and placed the body in an upstairs bedroom.
“The next day he drove up to the Ohio River and removed the boy’s body into the river,” the report says.
Gosney’s boyfriend, James Russell Hamilton, 42, is accused of helping Gosney leave his son’s body after the incident. He faces charges of abuse of a corpse and manipulation of evidence. The bail for Gosney was set at $ 1 million in cash; Hamilton set $ 105,000. Both remain in custody, Middletown Police Department spokesman Shelby Quinlivan told The Daily Beast.
Gosney and Hamilton showed up at the police station around 10:15 a.m. Sunday to report their son’s disappearance, Birk said. He felt something was wrong from the start, because the two of them couldn’t make their stories right. Birk described the situation as “just red flags everywhere.”
A few hours later, the two allegedly confessed. The child’s body has not yet been recovered.
“I’m so heartbroken that I don’t care if I had a million dollars I wouldn’t take it out, but it’s more involved than it is said I should have the same,” a man identified as the stepfather posted on his Facebook page of Gosney. Monday.
In a letter to families of children at Rosa Parks Elementary School, where James Hutchinson attended freshman year, principal Tracy Neely wrote, “We are all mourning the loss of our friend James today. James was a cheerful, cheerful soul who loved school. On the days he was in class, he would hug all his teachers as he entered the school. A funny memory I have is how his face would light up when he won lucky luck. First graders can find joy in almost anything. I will always remember his brilliant joy.
The school will hold a celebration of James Hutchinson’s life on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. Gosney and Hamilton will return to court on March 8.