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Dead 3-Year-Old Likely Suffered "History Of Abuse"
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 26, 2015
Modified Mar 25, 2018
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 26, 2015
Modified Mar 25, 2018
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The 3-year-old boy found dead in his Brooklyn apartment yesterday may have been fatally beaten by his aunt, according to authorities, and it's believed he endured "a history of abuse."
According to police, 3-year-old Ethan Ali (originally identified as 4 years of age) was found dead in his Brownsville apartment at around 1:27 p.m. yesterday. Police noticed bruising on his body, and the Post reports that officers are investigating whether Ethan's 21-year-old aunt, Christen Dale, beat him to death with a belt. The boy's grandfather told the Daily News that he had seen Dale hit the boy previously. "They did it all the time. They beat him and they beat him. He was always bruised,” he said. “She beat him with the belt. I told her to stop."
Neighbors told the Times that Ethan had lived with a rotating number of family members in the apartment, and that they heard him crying on multiple occasions. "I heard spanking, like someone talking: ‘Don’t do that. Didn’t I tell you not to do that?’ ” one neighbor, who heard the boy crying on Tuesday, told the paper. “I didn’t think it was going to come to this. That was my first time ever hearing him getting a spanking.”
Dale and her boyfriend, who apparently found her holding Ethan's body on Wednesday, were being interviewed by police officers yesterday, though no one had been arrested as of this morning. The boy's mother, Natasha Ali, is reportedly cooperating with authorities; according to NBC News, the boy's father had been fighting for custody of him.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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