Texas Teen Arrested After Body of 4-Year-Old Boy Found in Street

Dallas police investigators arrested a suspected child killer Saturday night. The arrest followed the discovery of a young boy’s body on the city’s southwest side.

UPDATE: Dallas Police arrested 18-year-old Darriynn Brown in connection with the alleged kidnapping and death of a four-year-old boy found dead in a southwest Dallas street, NBCDFW reported. Brown is currently charged with kidnapping and theft, police stated. Additional charges are pending forensics analysis. 

The boy, identified by his mother as Cash Gernon was sleeping when he was kidnapped, WFAA ABC8 reports. She described Cash as a “happy-go-luck” child. Police described the woman as Cash’s guardian, the article states.

Brown is reported to have been charged in late April with evading police.

Original story follows:

A Dallas woman, out for an early morning walk on Saturday, said she thought she saw a dog lying dead in the street. Upon closer examination the woman discovered the lifeless body of a four-year-old child, NBCDFW reported. Dallas Police Department’s homicide and child abuse units launched an investigation that led to an arrest later that evening.

DPD Executive Assistant Chief Albert Martinez told reporters, “Unfortunately a small child was lost today in our city through a violent act and we will pursue justice to find whoever did this and bring some sort of closure, not only to family but to the community.”

“We are shocked, we are very angry about what has happened to this small child,” Martinez continued.

Police have not released the identity of the pre-schooler or how he died. They did say the little boy suffered wounds from an “edged weapon.”

Antwainese Square, the woman who made the shocking discovery told the Dallas NBC affiliate, “The baby didn’t have shoes, he didn’t have a shirt on and he was just laying there.”

She also told CBSDFW:

I see something laying in the road and my initial thought was that it was a dog. The closer I get to it I can tell it’s a human cause I see a hand and I see legs. Very traumatizing. I have three kids. To see a child covered in blood in the middle of the street, it’s truly traumatizing.

Police described the suspected child killer as an adult male. They did not disclose any additional information on the suspect or the circumstances of the alleged homicide.

The deceased boy is reported to live in the same neighborhood as where he was found, the local CBS affiliate reported. The news crew observed an FBI evidence team searching a home on a nearby street.