Months before 7-year-old William Evans-Ellis was found dead in an Oakley closet, his mother reported concerns that he had been sexually abused. Springfield Township police opened an investigation but never visited the home or interviewed the person accused of abuse, according to records obtained by The Enquirer and police officials.
Police closed the investigation just 10 days before William was found dead on Aug. 6. Police found him bound with duct tape in a closet of the home he shared with his mother and two others. All three – Kaitlin Evans, 38, his mother; Nessa Keaney, 23; and Kirby Rankin, 33 – are charged with child endangerment, assault, conspiracy, and aggravated murder. A Cincinnati police detective said in court that the three were
acting as co-parents to William.
The Hamilton County coroner said William had "bruises too numerous to count." Cincinnati police said there was evidence of beatings and possible burns on William's body, as well as signs that was choked while held underwater.
The Springfield Township police opened a sexual abuse investigation on April 14 after receiving a phone call April 8 from a social worker at the Mayerson Center, according to an investigative report. Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children, part of Cincinnati Children’s, evaluates instances of potential child abuse and neglect.
At the time, William and his mother lived in Springfield Township.
A supplemental police report outlines officer Katie Long’s investigation. The records show a monthslong but limited probe that began with a call from Mayerson and ended in late July.
Long wrote in the report that she first tried to contact Evans on April 21 but did not receive a response. Over a month later, on May 29, she was able to reach Evans by phone.
Evans described her concerns during her conversation with Long, according to the report. The report has multiple redactions and does not identify the person who Evans accused of abusing William.
Lt. Matt Wilcher with Springfield Township police said the redactions relate to an uncharged suspect.
After returning home from a weekend away, the report states, Evans said she noticed that William was acting atypically. He would not let the person whose name is redacted change his diaper or put him to bed.
Evans told Long she sought medical advice from William’s pediatrician, who directed her to Mayerson for an evaluation. After reviewing Mayerson's report, Evans said she became concerned someone had “touched William inappropriately,” the report states.
Long told Evans that, without evidence, investigators would need to interview the accused person. Evans said this person was "often" physically and verbally abusive to her and William, so she had moved out, the supplemental police report states.
Evans gave Long a working phone number for that person. The report does not indicate the accused person was ever interviewed despite Long's "multiple phone attempts."
Long called the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services child abuse hotline on July 27 to determine whether there was an open case involving William’s family, according to the report. The call taker told her there was no case on file involving the family.
Without additional reports and an interview with the accused, Long wrote, she could not move forward with charges. Long closed the case but wrote that it could be reopened later if she learned of further issues.
The department’s records division told The Enquirer there is no body camera footage related to the investigation. The footage doesn’t exist, Wilcher said, because Springfield police didn’t go to the home of Evans or the accused party during the sex abuse investigation.
"When we do investigations, we have to be able to have evidence that a crime occurred," Wilcher said. "We can't move forward with charging or prosecution without physical evidence."
Wilcher said another issue was the lack of communication between Long, Evans and the person she accused.
There was no "push" from Evans to move the investigation forward, Wilcher said.
“This is one of those cases where I feel like communication between a lot of parties wasn’t what it needed to be,” Wilcher said.
The next court hearing in the cases against Evans, Keaney, and Rankin is Nov. 19.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police closed abuse investigation days before boy was found dead in closet
