Boy, 8, found dead from ‘deep neck compression’ wrapped in a garbage bag in the family’s attic
‘All he wanted was to be loved,’ family members said as they mourned killing of Martonio Wilder
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An Ohio mother and her partner have been arrested over the death of an eight-year-old boy whose body was found wrapped in a garbage back in the family’s attic.
Martonio Wilder, 8, was found inside a trash bag in the attic of the Milo-Grogan neighborhood home on Friday. The coroner’s office determined that the young boy died from “deep neck compression,” court records obtained by NBC4 show.
His mother, Lashanda Wilder, 32, called the Columbus Police around noon on Friday, explaining that she last saw her son on Thursday night at bedtime, the records said.
Police issued a missing person’s advisory for Martonio and began a K9 search of the local neighborhood; however, court records reportedly state that Wilder became “uncooperative” during the search, with a police report saying that she did not want the K9 brought inside her home.
Meanwhile, Wilder and, Johnna Lowe, 33, who local outlets report as Wilder’s partner, left without telling police where they were going, taking Wilder’s two other children, aged three and nine.
Later that day, Martonio’s body was found, and he was pronounced dead around 6.30pm, with police briefly issuing an Amber Alert for his brothers, who have since been found safe and placed in Franklin County Children’s Services.
Arrest warrants were issued on Saturday for both Wilder and Lowe, who eventually turned themselves in.
On Monday, the pair had arraignment hearings in Franklin County Municipal Court, where Wilder, who was not present at the hearing, was charged with murder and obstruction of justice after Martonio’s death was ruled a homicide, according to the outlet.
She was issued a $2m bond, while Lowe was issued a $500,000 bond after only being charged with obstruction of justice.
On Saturday evening, Martonio’s family, including many of his young cousins, gathered outside the scene of the crime to mourn the life of the eight-year-old by lighting candles and releasing balloons.
“I’m still in disbelief because how dare you; if you didn’t love your son, you should’ve let him stay with people who love him,” Lashanda Wilder’s aunt, Rachelle Knight, told WBNS.
“Martonio was a bright kid. All he wanted was to be loved,” she added. “He wanted to be loved.”
Martonio’s cousin, Seia Glover, also told the Columbus Dispatch that he did not see something like this coming in their family.
"Some of the minor things that were red flags but didn’t really seem like they would lead to something like this of this magnitude, it caught us all off guard. She had support," Glover told the newspaper.
"There’s no excuse for this boy to be dead. There’s no reason for him to be stuffed up in the attic like he didn’t matter."