CLARKSBURG, W.Va. –State troopers allege that three individuals accused of killing a 5-year-old boy took him to the hospital and falsely said his injuries were accidental.
Police said Peter James Wodzinski, 32, his wife, Chasity Nicole Wodzinski, 29, and Michelle Lynn Boggs, 48, Chasity’s mother, took the boy to a hospital last Wednesday.
The boy, whose guardian is Boggs, was pronounced dead Friday at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital.
According to troopers, the three defendants maliciously inflicted substantial physical pain, illness or impairment of physical condition by other than accidental means, thereby causing the death of the boy.
Injuries suffered by the boy included a 1 1/2-inch laceration on his male organ, head trauma involving bleeding on the brain and had numerous bruises on his body, according to state police.
The boy had lived with the three individuals at 9248 Buckhannon Pike in Lost Creek for just under one year, troopers said.
Peter Wodzinski was the uncle and custodian of the boy and Chasity Wodzinski was the biological aunt and custodian.
Each of the three defendants has been charged with felony death of a child by parent, guardian or custodian or other person by child abuse.
If convicted of the crimes, each would face 15 years to life. They remain jailed without bond.