Police: Ill. teens beat mentally challenged cousin

[September 24, 2008]  EAST ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Two teenagers were charged Tuesday with beating their mentally challenged adult cousin over a year with items such as a broom and pipe at the behest of an aunt too ill to do so herself.

Davion Cutler, 17, was charged with aggravated battery, and his 16-year-old brother was charged with battery as a juvenile. His name was not released because of his age. Police also were looking for a 13-year-old sister although they did not say whether she was involved in the abuse.

Police said they expect to ask prosecutors for abuse-related charges against other adults who lived in the house. Investigators say the woman who directed the abuse died last week of a massive heart attack. The victim, who was not identified, was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, including broken bones and severe malnutrition. Police said the victim's mental capacity of a 6-year-old diminished her ability to report the abuse. The case was reported by hospital workers Sunday. Police confronted the two teens, who both admitted they had beaten the victim with a broom, pipe and "a switch," police Detective Orlando Ward said. Police Detective Michael Floore said the aunt, who owned the home where she lived with the victim, had instructed the children to beat the victim because she gave the woman "a hard time" and didn't wash dishes. The woman's relationship to the victim wasn't disclosed. The woman who directed the abuse was ill with heart disease, police said. The woman's husband tried to intervene, "but his wife turned against him," Floore said. "He had a bad heart himself, so he left it alone." Davion Cutler was jailed on $50,000 bond, and it was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. [Associated Press; By JIM SUHR] Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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