A Ghanaian couple living in New York, USA, have been convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 5-year-old King Owusu who was beaten mercilessly and left in a room to die as they left him in room to go shopping.
According to a report on People.com, Valerie Owusu who was the mother of the boy and her boyfriend beat the small boy soo bad that ‘the injuries left on him were too many to count’ and left him for dead and neither took him to a hospital or even called 911.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office has stated that Valerie and Emmanuel Addae were convicted on March, 22, nearly three years after Valeri’es son King was found dead in a home in Brentwood, N.Y.
“This little boy was beaten and suffered for days at the hands of these defendants, one of whom was his own mother, until he, unfortunately, succumbed to his severe and extensive injuries,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a press release.
Tierney’s statement continued, “Thanks to the thorough investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department, the relentless pursuit of justice by the prosecutors assigned to this case, and the jury’s careful consideration of the evidence presented, the defendants have been held accountable for this horrific crime.”
The prosecutors in the case alleged that the boy’s mother and her boyfriend beat the child with “at least four different instruments” over a three day period in 2021 and that deteriorated his condition and then he eventually lost consciousness.
The prosecutors also stated that neither Valerie Owusu or her boyfriend Addae called the police or provided medical care for the 5-year-old boy and left him at a family member’s house on April 1, 2021, only for the family member to return home to find him dead and called the police and when he was taken to the Southside hospital, he was pronounced dead.
Investigations and examinations by authorities revealed that the boy had suffered numerous injuries from “head to toe” as part of the beatings.
Valerie and her boyfriend Addae were in Ghana after the death of the boy but returned back to the States and settled in New Jersey rather than New York but were arrested in April 2022 and charged with murder.
Child Protective Services also took custody of King’s younger sister at that time.
Valerie Owusu and her boyfriend were convicted of second-degree murder, a class A felony by a jury and would be sentenced on May 1, 2024 and could face up to 25 years to life in prison.