CINCINNATI — Three people arrested for the death of 7-year-old William Evans, who was found bound in a closet inside an Oakley apartment, have been indicted by a grand jury on 13 charges, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said during a Thursday press conference.
The boy's mother, 38-year-old Kaitlin Evans, along with 23-year-old Nessa Keaney and 33-year-old Kirby Rankin, now face:
- One count of aggravated murder
- Four counts of murder
- One count of kidnapping
- One count of felonious assault
- Four counts of child endangerment
- Two counts of conspiracy
Each suspect pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arraignment hearing Friday morning.
WATCH: Three people arrested for in 7-year-old's death plead not guilty
According to Pillich, the three defendants were co-parenting the child together.
"But they failed miserably as parents," Pillich said. "Instead, they committed atrocious acts, causing this child to suffer terribly."
During Friday's arraignment, Judge Christian Jenkins kept each suspect's bond at $1.1 million, with both the defense and prosecuting attorneys agreeing the current bond is appropriate.
Keaney's attorney also requested a competency evaluation.
WATCH: We break down the new charges brought on by the grand jury
In the 13-count indictment, prosecutors allege the three suspects exchanged text messages on the platform Signal. Prosecutors allege Rankin sent an audio message to Keaney on July 4 with plans to kidnap and kill William.
Pillich did not elaborate on the case much during the press conference and only took a handful of questions from reporters. She did say that whether the death penalty could be on the table for the defendants has not yet been decided, because the investigation is ongoing.
You can watch the prosecutor's full press conference below:
Evans died as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco said during her own press conference Tuesday.
Sammarco said it was apparent when she arrived at the home, where Evans was found dead on Aug. 6, that Evans had suffered a head injury; he was found in a bedroom closet, bound so that he could not move.
Sammarco said for her, the case was too similar to the case of Marcus Fiesel, a case that rocked the Greater Cincinnati area and changed the fabric of foster care 20 years ago.
"This just felt so similar; it was a little scary," Sammarco said.
WATCH: Coroner says 7-year-old boy found bound, dead in closet died from head trauma
While Sammarco could not provide a lot of information about the case while the investigation is ongoing, she said Evans' mouth was not taped, and he had multiple other injuries. Specifically, she said one of his arms was fractured and he had multiple bruises on his body "that were too numerous to count, and of various ages."
She said her office believes Evans was dead for at least a day before he was discovered.
"This is a hard case for everybody, I think," Sammarco said. "Those of you that have worked in this office as long as I have or longer, we always say that we expect the worst, but sometimes we get it."
She called the crime scene a "top 10 horrible scene to go to."
The coroner's office can't determine whether Evans was killed inside the home, and she could not share information about any potential weapon that may have killed him. Sammarco did say the boy's arm fracture was new, and his head was wounded in a number of different areas. He was not malnourished in any apparent way, Sammarco said.
The coroner's office is still waiting on toxicology and DNA tests, so it's not yet known whether Evans was drugged.
You can watch the coroner's full press conference in the player below:
A newly released 911 call made on Aug. 6 by a nurse at Mercy Health Rookwood also revealed details about how police came to find 7-year-old William Evans duct-taped, bound and dead inside a closet in an Oakley apartment unit.
The call, lasting nearly two minutes, was placed after Evans walked into the emergency room barefoot and seemingly in distress, claiming her son had been kidnapped.
Records show the 911 call came into dispatch Thursday afternoon, when the woman walked into the emergency room and laid down on the ground. The caller said, "I'm not sure if she is in danger or it's a psych emergency."
"We have somebody that came in and kind of just dropped herself on the floor," the nurse who made the 911 call said. "She's barefoot. She's saying that her partner is trying to kill her. That they took her son."
WATCH: 911 call reveals how police found 7-year-old Oakley boy bound, dead in closet
During the call, the woman believed to be Evans identified the person she claimed took her son as Kirby Rankin, her partner.
"She took him (William) up to the attic," the mother said.
According to the 911 call, dispatch sent police to both the emergency room and an Oakley apartment unit.
During arraignment hearings Aug. 8, investigators said William suffered months-long abuse, including water and burn torture, blunt force injuries and beatings while in the care of the three defendants. During Tuesday's press conference, Sammarco said her team had found a couple of "very small marks that might have been burns," but the pathologist has not completed testing on them.
During the hearing, it was said Rankin disclosed their involvement in the abuse and implicated the other two as active participants. A judge ordered a competency hearing for Rankin for early September.
The charges follow a conviction Rankin received months ago for assaulting a woman in the Fairfield Jungle Jim's parking lot in January.
According to Fairfield police records, officers responded around 3:10 p.m. Jan. 4 to a report of a physical altercation between two women in the Jungle Jim’s parking lot.
The police report stated Rankin confronted Amy Bunnell after accusing Bunnell of nearly hitting William with a car. Bunnell told police Rankin cursed at her and threatened to shoot Bunnell if Bunnell did not leave.
Surveillance footage reviewed by officers showed Bunnell walking away before Rankin approached again, pushed her and punched her in the face with a closed fist, according to the report. Bunnell suffered a concussion, three fractured teeth and a knee injury that required surgery, according to her husband.
Rankin was charged with assault and aggravated menacing and later convicted, remaining free on a $100,000 bond while awaiting sentencing.
In a statement over the weekend, William's grandparents and aunt said, "The pain of losing such a sweet, beautiful, innocent child is beyond description. We will love and miss him forever."
The family also shared a GoFundMe, in which they plan to use funds raised to build a memorial and foundation in the 7-year-old's honor.
