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Mom, Sibling Linked To Boy's Death

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By TRAVIS REED The Associated Press

Published: October 5, 2007

ORLANDO - A 13-year-old boy accused of killing his 8-year-old brother over a dessert previously had helped hold his sibling down as their mother beat him, authorities said.

Orange County sheriff's investigators arrested the mother, Tangela Key, on an aggravated child neglect charge Thursday, a day after alleging Demetrius Key killed his brother, Levares Key, when she left them alone.

Sgt. John Allen said the mother had hit Levares repeatedly before the boy was killed Saturday. Allen said Demetrius and his other siblings held Levares down for their mother.

'One child would hold Levares' arms, the other one would hold his legs, and they would hold him up in the air off the ground while she hit him,' Allen said.

A detention hearing was set today for Demetrius, who remained in custody on a felony first-degree murder charge.

It was not immediately clear how many other children Key has or who received them in custody. Allen said detectives were still determining whether they were treated similarly.

Also unknown is how long the abuse occurred, but examinations revealed several old injuries suffered before the fatal blows.

'We've talked to people that have given us different, slightly varying versions, but it wasn't a one-time event,' Allen said.

Allen said Tangela Key gave up Levares a month after his birth to a woman she called a godmother. The boy remained in her care until recently, Allen said, though it was not clear who had legal custody.

He would not speculate about the accusations that Key asked other children to help her beat Levares.

'She knowingly left him in a circumstance that she knew could result in his death and did so,' Allen said. 'Our investigation has revealed she was aware of Demetrius' propensity to harm Levares.'

John Cooper, regional director for the Florida Department of Children & Families, told the Orlando Sentinel it had investigated Key in the past, but Levares wasn't with her then.

'I can confirm his siblings are in protective custody now and have been in custody in the past,' Cooper said. 'The 8-year-old was never in our cases in the past.'

A DCF spokeswoman said she could only confirm Thursday that police contacted the agency about the investigation.

Allen said the mother initially lied when the boy died Saturday, saying she had been home. Tangela Key later told deputies she was visiting a cousin nearby. Demetrius arrived and told her Levares was 'passed out,' according to a detective's affidavit, and Key found him on the floor.

He was pronounced dead at a hospital from what the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office called closed head wounds.

Detective Appling Wells wrote in an affidavit Demetrius first said he hit the boy with a metal shelf support, then said it was a broom handle. Wells said the boy told him Levares angered him by picking a scab that bled and eating a dessert he shouldn't have.
Demetrius said he feared being blamed for those things when their mother returned.

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