Vigil over wounded child continues after shootings

[June 20, 2012]  McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- An all-night vigil continued Wednesday over a critically wounded 6-year-old boy, a day after his 21-month-old brother was shot dead in a South Texas hotel room and their mother was found dead hundreds of miles away.

Officers arrested Demond Bluntson, 36, at the Holiday Inn-Civic Center in Laredo and were holding him pending formal charges, Laredo Police spokesman Joe Baeza said. Baeza said police were consulting prosecutors about the charges.

Baeza said police went to the hotel about midday Tuesday after receiving a call from police in the family's hometown of El Campo, a city more than 200 miles northeast of Laredo, saying the family might be in some kind of trouble.

El Campo Police Chief Terry Stanphill said an El Campo resident discovered a woman's body hours later that is believed to be that of the children's mother and Bluntson's girlfriend, Brandy Cerny.

Police went to the hotel about midday after receiving a call from police in the family's hometown of El Campo, a city more than 200 miles northeast of Laredo, saying the family might be in some kind of trouble, Baeza said.

The desk clerk directed officers to a room on the 14th floor, where they knocked, identified themselves as police and immediately heard several shots, Baeza said. One shot came through the room door and narrowly missed two officers, he said.

Police cleared the building, which was packed with a convention, then entered the room and arrested Bluntson.

Police determined the boys' mother, Cerny, had not checked into the hotel.

Cerny's 21-month-old boy was declared dead at the scene, while her 6-year-old son was hospitalized, Baeza said.

Hours later an El Campo resident discovered a woman's body on a property that was not where the Cernys lived, said Stanphill.

"We believe it to be (Cerny's) body," Stanphill said. He said the body was found in an outbuilding on a property that was not the Cernys'. He declined to release additional details.

Cerny's aunt Dianne Cerny told The Associated Press that Bluntson is the father of younger boy, Davian. She said 6-year-old Jaydin remained on life support Tuesday evening.

Dianne Cerny said family members last saw Brandy Cerny and her boys at church Sunday morning. The close-knit family had gathered the night before to celebrate Father's Day, she said.

[Associated Press; By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN]

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