Though Mom technically had legal custody, dad CHRISTOPHER WILLIS refused to return their 2 1/2-month-old son after a visit. Within three months, the boy was murdered, with his father charged in the crime. Seems Daddy was a major drug dealer with an impressive gun arsenal. And the authorities had the audacity to wonder why the mother never reported the father's abduction to the police. Are you kidding me?
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00611F83E5C0C758CDDAF0894DB494D81
Brooklyn Father Arrested in Child's Death
By SETH FAISON
Published: June 6, 1993
A Brooklyn man was arrested and charged yesterday with the murder of his 2 1/2-year-old son, the police said.
The man, Christopher Willis, 28, was arrested at 8 A.M. near Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights just hours after the baby died at St. John's Hospital, said Capt. William F. Plackenmeyer of the Brooklyn Detective Bureau.
Police officers found Mr. Willis with thousands of vials of crack cocaine, six handguns and $80,000 in cash, Captain Plackenmeyer said, and he was also charged with illegal possession of guns and of a controlled substance.
"This was not just a street-corner dealer," said Captain Plackenmeyer.
The child, Datwan Murray, was taken to the hospital late Friday night by Wanda Brown, 31, who described herself as the girlfriend of Mr. Willis, said Captain Plackenmeyer. She told the police that she found the baby in bed, unconscious and naked, and took him straight to the hospital.
Datwan died at 11:05 P.M. Friday at the hospital, said Sgt. John McCluskey, a police spokesman.
After conducting an autopsy yesterday, the Medical Examiner ruled that the death was a homicide, said a spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove. The child had evidently suffered repeated blows to the body over a period of time, she said. Mother Had Custody
Datwan lived with his father at 632 Bergen Street, Ms. Brown told the police. Sergeant McCluskey said that the child's mother, Andrea Murray of Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn, has legal custody of the child.
She apparently allowed Mr. Willis to take Datwan for a visit on March 13, but Mr. Willis never returned the child. Although Ms. Brown saw Mr. Willis with the child on the street on several occasions, she apparently never reported it to the police. It was not immediately clear why, said Sergeant McCluskey.
Captain Plackenmeyer said there was evidence that the child had been physically abused for more than three months, apparently ever since he moved in with Mr. Willis.
"We believe the abuse took place almost continuously during that time," Captain Plackenmeyer said. "It was a terrible case."