(WXYZ — The Oakland County prosecutor has filed additional charges against a mother and her boyfriend in what officials are calling one of the worst child abuse cases they’ve ever seen.
According to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, Giovanni "Chulo" Jennings, 6, died from blunt force trauma to the abdomen and a perforated bowel “after a lengthy period of confinement and abuse.”
VIDEO: Watch the full press conference with Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald
On July 30, police were called to a home on Dequindre near 10 Mile Road in Madison Heights for a boy not breathing. When police and EMS arrived, they said they found severe physical injuries on Giovanni. He was rushed to a local hospital and then transferred to the Detroit Medical Center before passing away from his injuries on July 31.
The boy's mother, Elaina Jennings, and her boyfriend, Daniel Giacchina, were arrested in the case, and on Friday, the prosecutor amended the charges against the defendants to include murder and child abuse in the first degree.
Prosecutor McDonald said her office in conjunction with the Madison Heights Police Department have spent more than 100 hours reviewing evidence in the case, including cell phone data, photos and items seized.
“As we carefully sifted through the evidence, what we found can only be described as horrific,” said Prosecutor McDonald.
Officials say evidence revealed that the boy was being severely abused by the defendants, which allegedly involved physical assaults, including shooting at the boy with a BB gun. The prosecutor said Giovanni was confined to a pen in a corner of a bedroom and that he was bound to a wall by the use of a staple gun.
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According to the prosecutor’s office, another child in the home told a forensic interviewer that Giacchina punched the boy multiple times in the abdomen about three days before his death.
Giovanni reportedly began vomiting and his condition worsened until he became unresponsive on July 30.
The prosecutor said the mother falsely told police that she left the boy with his biological father. An investigation reportedly revealed that there was no evidence the boy’s father had any connection to the crimes.
The defendants were arraigned on Friday. A probable cause conference is set for August 21 at 11 a.m. in the 43rd District Court.
Officials said they will continue to fight for justice for Giovanni in this case.
“All children have a right to grow up in a home free of fear,” said McDonald. “This child and his siblings suffered unimaginable abuse and lived in fear every day.”
