DEVIN DRAKE - 3 yo (2011) - Anoka (N of Minneapolis) MN

A three-year-old boy is on life support today, and police say he’s likely a victim of severe abuse.

The child was brought to Mercy Hospital around 6 p.m. Tuesday by his mother,
40-year-old Elizabeth Anno Moorman of Anoka.
He was diagnosed with severe head trauma and punctured lungs,
along with other injuries to his body. He is currently on life support at HCMC.
The mother and her boyfriend are in custody in the Anoka County Jail but have not been charged.
The boyfriend is identified as Anthony William Urban of Anoka.
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2265588.shtml?cat=1

A 3-year-old boy was on life support and his mother and her boyfriend
were jailed in a case of alleged child abuse, the Anoka County
Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

About 6 p.m. Tuesday, the boy's mother brought him to Mercy Hospital
in Coon Rapids, where he was found to have severe head trauma, punctured
lungs and contusions over his body, the sheriff's office said.

The boy was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was
on life support Thursday afternoon, the sheriff's office said.

"We have been told that it's unlikely that the child will recover," said Cmdr. Paul Sommer, a Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Sommer said that charges were expected to be filed Friday morning
against both the 40-year-old mother and her 24-year-old boyfriend, who
is not the child's father.

Sommer declined to detail what the couple told authorities about the
child's injuries. But he said "the explanation they gave was not
consistent with the amount of injuries present."

The alleged abuse occurred at the couple's home in Anoka, Sommer said.

According to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the boy's
mother was convicted in 2007 of a fifth-degree drug charge in Hennepin
County District Court. The boyfriend has been convicted of two
fifth-degree drug possession charges, plus two other felonies, one for
theft and the other for check forgery, according to the BCA. He also has
been convicted of receiving stolen property, a gross misdemeanor.

The suspects remained in custody Thursday at the Anoka County jail.
http://www.startribune.com/local/north/128958103.html

Doctors were working Friday to stop the swelling
in the brain of a 3-year-old Anoka boy believed to be the victim of
repeated child abuse, officials said.

The boy's mother, Elizabeth Moorman, 40, of Anoka was charged
with one count of neglect Friday because of his condition. Her
boyfriend, Anthony Urban, 24, faces one count of first-degree assault
resulting in great bodily harm to the boy.

The Andover man is suspected of dealing the critical blow earlier
this week that caused the child to be put on life support at Hennepin
County Medical Center in Minneapolis, said Paul Lenzmeier, spokesman for
the Anoka County sheriff's office.

"By his own admission, he punched the child on the right side of
the head, causing him to fall to the floor," Lenzmeier said. "That was
obviously enough to cause significant injuries."

The boy was flown by helicopter to HCMC after his mother took him
to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on Tuesday night. His older sister and
biological father were by his side Friday, Lenzmeier said.

"His condition is very grave," he said of the boy.

If the boy dies, Urban would likely face stiffer charges, Lenzmeier said.

After detectives spoke with neighbors in Moorman's Anoka
apartment building, where Urban is believed to have been living,
Lenzmeier said a pattern of abuse emerged.

"It is really unclear who is specifically responsible for that
but we do know from witness statements that there have been suspicious
bruises seen on the child in the past," Lenzmeier said. "We believe there has been ongoing abuse."

The charges stem from a Monday incident that began as the 3-year-old
was brushing his teeth. Urban told detectives he feared the child was
choking on his toothbrush and tried to pull it from the boy's mouth,
prompting the boy to bite him, according to a criminal complaint.

Urban eventually admitted to then striking the boy on the head,
knocking him off the stool he was sitting on and causing his head to hit
the bathroom's ceramic floor, the complaint said.

Urban described the boy as "woozy" after the fall and said he couldn't stay on his feet, the complaint said.

A neighbor, who helped Moorman carry groceries into her apartment
that night, told detectives she saw the boy arrive at the door with a
bump on his forehead, scrapes on his neck and bite marks on his hand.

Urban told detectives that Moorman said not to call the police
because she had warrants for her arrest. The mother has warrants out of
Anoka and Hennepin counties for traffic violations, Lenzmeier said.

Moorman reportedly refused to call for help again early Tuesday
when Urban said he called her and told her the child had ingested his
own vomit and had gone stiff while she was out running an errand, the
complaint said.

The mother took the boy to the hospital Tuesday evening, where
she gave staff varying accounts of what might have caused her son's
injuries.

Sarah Hughes, a neighbor in the apartment building, said she
overheard the hurried conversation that took place before Moorman left
with her son.

"I heard Beth saying he was having seizures and that they needed
to take him in," Hughes said. "I didn't hear (the child) at all."

Hughes said that the couple had been dating for a few months and
that most people in the apartment building warned Moorman it was a bad
relationship, particularly because Urban seemed to have a hot temper.

"He was like a ticking time bomb," Hughes recalled. "Before Tony,
(her son) was everything to Beth...after Tony, she stopped talking to a
lot of us; she was more withdrawn and we didn't see (her son) as much."


Relatives of Urban's reached Friday said they didn't know him
well and couldn't comment on what happened. Moorman's family could not
be reached.

Urban's criminal record includes two felony convictions for
fifth-degree drug possession and four theft-related convictions ranging
from a misdemeanor to a felony. He was convicted of check forgery in
2007 and has several traffic violations.

Moorman was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2007 for fifth-degree
possession of a controlled substance. She has two traffic violations.

Hughes said she and her neighbors are worried about the child, whom she described as a "vivacious, go-go-go little boy."

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_18816609

A 3-year-old Anoka boy died Saturday in a Minneapolis hospital, a day
after authorities charged his mother with neglect, saying she didn't
help the child after her boyfriend hurt him.

The boy, whose name has not been released, died at Hennepin County
Medical Center, said Scott Schlender, a detective with the Anoka County
Sheriff's Office. The boy had been on life support.

On Tuesday, the boy's mother, Elizabeth A. Moorman, 40, of Anoka,
brought her injured son to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. From there, he
was airlifted to HCMC.

Moorman offered three stories about how the boy became injured,
authorities say, but they allege that the 3-year-old had been abused and
that she had failed to get medical attention for him.

On Friday, her boyfriend, Anthony W. Urban, 24, of Andover, was
charged with first-degree assault, and she was charged with child
neglect in Anoka County District Court.

According to the complaints, Urban told an investigator that he
struck the boy on the side of the head after the child bit down on his
fingers as Urban helped him brush his teeth. The boy's head then hit the
bathroom floor, the boyfriend said, according to the complaints.

Later, after the boy threw up and his body stiffened, Urban phoned
Moorman, and she told him not to call for help because she had warrants
out for her arrest, he told authorities, according to the charges.

Moorman took the boy to Mercy about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

There, she allegedly told a doctor that her son drove an electric car
into a toy box and fell into the box head first. To a nurse, Moorman
said that the boy might have been pushed down a flight of stairs by
another child in their apartment building, the charges say. Later, the
mother told a detective that she had left the child in Urban's care on
Monday and again on Tuesday. The complaint does not quote her alleging
any abuse by the boyfriend.

According to state court records, Moorman was convicted in 2007 of a
fifth-degree drug charge in Hennepin County District Court. When
arrested last week, she was wanted for alleged traffic violations.

Both Moorman and Urban remain in custody, Schlender said. Their charges are likely to be updated this week.


http://www.startribune.com/local/north/129228858.html

The boyfriend of an Anoka
woman whose three-year-old son died over the weekend from child abuse
was charged today with second-degree murder in his death, officials
said.

Anthony William Urban, 24, had previously been charged with
first-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm against the child.
Those charges were amended today after the young boy died Saturday,
according to the Anoka County Sheriff's office.

The child's mother, Elizabeth Moorman, 40, faces child neglect charges in the case.

The boy was flown to Hennepin County Medical Center Aug. 30 after
suffering a severe head injury, as well as punctured lungs and bruises
all over his body. Staff determined the injuries were consistent with
abuse.

Urban, of Andover, is suspected of dealing the critical blow that
landed the child on life support at the hospital, though authorities
said they suspect there had been ongoing abuse of the boy.

According to the criminal complaint, Urban is suspected of
punching the three-year-old in the side of the head Aug. 29 while the
boy was brushing his teeth.

Fearful that the child was choking on his toothbrush, Urban told
detectives he tried to pull the toothbrush from the boy's mouth,
prompting the boy to bite him. Urban then hit the child, knocking him
off the stool he was sitting on and causing him to hit his head on the
bathroom's ceramic floor, the complaint said.

After the fall, Urban described the boy as "woozy" and said he couldn't stay on his feet, the complaint said.

Urban told detectives that Moorman said not to call the police
because she had warrants for her arrest. The mother has warrants out of
Anoka and Hennepin counties for traffic violations, investigators have
said.

Moorman reportedly refused to call for help again early Tuesday
when Urban said he called her and told her the child had ingested his
own vomit and had gone stiff while she was out running an errand, the
complaint said.

The mother took the boy to the hospital Tuesday evening, where
she gave staff varying versions about what may have caused her son's
injuries.

Relatives of Urban's reached Friday said they didn't know him
well and couldn't comment on what happened. Moorman's family could not
be reached.

Urban's past criminal record includes two felony convictions for
fifth-degree drug possession, as well as four theft-related convictions
ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony. He was also convicted of check
forgery in 2007 and has several traffic violations.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_18835983
Moorman was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2007 for 5th degree
possession of a controlled substance. She has two traffic violations.

Both Urban and Moorman are being held in custody awaiting court
dates. Urban's next court date is scheduled Oct. 3; Moorman's is
scheduled for Sept. 29.

Man pleads guilty to second-degree murder of Anoka boy, 3

Updated: April 26, 2012 - 11:17 PM

The victim's mother also faces charges and a trial to start in July.

The man charged in the death of a 3-year-old Anoka boy in September pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder.

Anthony W. Urban, 25, of Andover, has been in custody since the boy's death Sept. 3. He is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 10.

Devin Drake's mother, Elizabeth Moorman, also is in custody; she was charged with second-degree manslaughter. Her trial is to start in July.

According to criminal complaints, Urban told police he had struck the boy on the side of the head after the child bit down on his fingers as Urban helped him brush his teeth. Urban said the boy's head then hit the bathroom floor.

The boy was taken to Mercy Hospital, where a cerebral hemorrhage, two collapsed lungs and retinal hemorrhaging were diagnosed, the Anoka County attorney's office said Thursday. Devin was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died several days later.

Prosecutors alleged the boy's injuries were the result of child abuse inflicted by Urban, the attorney's office said.

Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo acknowledged the deep sorrow that affects a community when a child is killed but added that a guilty plea helped.

"There's a sense of relief in the community when there's closure by plea of guilty," he said. "I just have to believe that's because, if someone has done something wrong and they admit to it, that's kind of the way we were all trained."

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/149165135.html