Mom accused in son's death
A Texarkana, Ark., woman has been arrested on a capital murder charge for allegedly beating her 2-year-old son so severely he died from his injuries.
RaKeesha Biddle, 24, is being held without bond in the Bi-State Justice Building jail.
Her son,
Kaivonne Buford, died Thursday at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock.
According to police, an autopsy performed Monday revealed that Kaivonne's death was caused by blunt force trauma to his abdomen.
A motive in the death has not been released.
"That is part of what is still being investigated," said Officer Chris Rankin, a spokesman for the Texarkana, Ark., Police Department.
Rankin said a warrant was issued for Biddle's arrest.
"During the time frame it occurred, there wer
e only a limited number of people who had contact with the child. In cases like this, we don't rule anyone out. We look at who would have been with the child during this time frame," he said.
Detective Les Moody arrested Biddle while she was attending a hearing that would determine future custody of her three other children.
The children, ages 4, 3 and 1, will remain in Department of Human Services custody until the case is adjudicated, Rankin said.
Biddle was still being questioned by detectives Wednesday afternoon.
Kaivonne was taken to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health Center on July 27 for emergency treatment after he lost consciousness at his grandmother's house in Texarkana.
He was unresponsive at the hospital and was airlifted to Children's Hospital in Little Rock where he was pronounced dead at 5 p.m. on July 28. "An intensive investigation began immediately due to initial medical findings, which led officers to suspect that the child had been physically abused," Rankin said.
[B
]According to a police report, Biddle told police the boy began suffering stomach problems earlier in the day after she had cooked him chicken strips for dinner.[/B]
She reportedly told police that after eating two chicken strips, Kaivonne became sick to his stomach and she gave him some prescription medicine.
She then drove her children to Stamps, Ark., and left them with her mother, who was still at work.
Biddle then went to work and the children's grandmother drove them back to her home in Texarkana. According to the report, Kaivonne became very sleepy and kept nodding off in the vehicle.
According to the report, the grandmother called 911 after Kaivonne lost consciousness while lying on her couch.
Detectives have worked the case nonstop since Kaivonne died.
"It is difficult to make sense of a crime such as this where there is violence against a child," Rankin said. "There is not really a happy ending but we are pleased to have a suspect in custody
."
The case, which is
the first homicide of the year in Texarkana, Ark., remains under investigation.
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Wake up America and smell the nigger.
T.N.B.
