WASHINGTON COUNTY, Md. — Editor's Note: This story contains details that readers may find upsetting.
A 5-year-old boy is dead in Washington County, Maryland after officers found him unconscious at a home on White Pine Drive in Hagerstown, Maryland. The boy's mother and her boyfriend have been charged in his death.
Officers were called to the home on July 22 just after 2:30 p.m. and found the unresponsive child. Officials then contacted emergency service providers to provide life-saving measures.
The boy was transported to Meritus Medical Center and later Children's National Hospital in D.C., officials said. The child was pronounced dead at the D.C. hospital and has been taken for an autopsy to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in D.C.
Investigators claim two additional children, a 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl were also at the home as well. The 2-year-old child was taken to the Children's National Hospital and was later released. Both children are now in the custody of the Washington County Department of Social Services, according to officials.
On Monday, officers arrested the child's mother, 30-year-old Catherine Thrasher on multiple, charges ranging from neglect to assault and sexual abuse of a minor. Thrasher's boyfriend, 33-year-old Timothy Haselden and charged him on more than 10 counts, including child abuse, first-degree rape and assault.
Both Haselden and Thrasher are being held in the Washington County Sheriff's Office Detention Center without bond.
Neighbors told WUSA9 that they had not seen the kids outside the home for months, and one resident said he thought the children had moved away.
According to court documents, Thrasher called 9-1-1 Friday to report her son wasn’t breathing. Rescuers found the unresponsive boy with “bruising in various stages (both old and new/healing) over his entire body” and evidence of a” potential skull fracture."
Rescuers were able to resuscitate the boy on the way to the hospital in Hagerstown, but he died Friday night.
Doctors later determined the boy had been raped, according to investigators. First responders told detectives the boy was autistic and there was evidence of being strangled.
Investigators said Thrasher told them she went to work at a nearby restaurant, while her unemployed boyfriend was home to watch the kids. She said she rushed home when he called her at work saying the boy had become lifeless and limp. A detective reported that she told a 9-1-1 caller that she thought the boy had fallen out of a car.
Court records say the couple had been together in the home for five months and that Haselden is not the children's father.