Records: Police were told of abuse of boy in 2018
The Dayton 10-year-old died this month; his dad has been charged.
A school worker and the mother of a 10-year-old boy told police their concerns of possible abuse more than a year before he died, according to public records obtained Friday by News Center 7 and the Dayton Daily News.
Takoda Collins, 10, was rushed to Dayton’s Children’s Hospital on Dec. 13 and was pronounced dead after his father Al-Mutahan McLean called police to say he found the boy unresponsive in their Kensington Drive home.
McLean, 30, faces charges in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in connection to what law enforcement described in court records as “extreme” child abuse against Takoda. Two women who lived inside the home, Amanda Hinze, 28, and Jennifer Ebert, 25, were indicted in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on four counts each of endangering children.
Records obtained from the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center show that a Dayton Public Schools employee contacted police May 11, 2018, around noon to check on the welfare of Takoda after “she had to call Children Services” May 9, 2018, “to report abuse … by Al-Mutahan McLean.”
The worker also told law enforcement McLean had called the school saying Takoda was sick, and she was concerned he “may be being abused, and not actually sick.”
Around 20 minutes after the school worker called police, a case worker with Children’s Services also asked police to do a welfare check on Takoda, the dispatch records show.
Police noted in the dispatch records that there was “no answer at the door” when they responded and the call was closed.
More than a year later, on May 14, 2019, Takoda’s mother called and asked for police to check on his welfare at the Kensington address.
Takoda’s mother, Robin Collins, told police she believed McLean “is actively abusing him” and asked that officers speak to the child alone, dispatch records show.
Takoda’s mother said McLean yelled at the child, “saying he hates the child,” and added, if Takoda’s mother “does not come to get him, something bad is going to happen,” the records read.
The dispatch center logs noted that “Takoda is being taken care of and still has behavioral issues.”
The dispatch center logs also noted that Takoda’s mother “was given no custodial rights, but he still allows Takoda to speak with her.” Dispatchers attempted to follow up with Takoda’s mother by phone after the welfare check “but there was no answer.”
Law enforcement now alleges that Takado suffered “extreme” child abuse at the hands of McLean, Hinze and
Ebert for more than a year.
Police say in court documents, “Takoda was kept in a dirty, locked, dark attic and abused daily over the course of several years. The interviews also revealed that Takoda was held underwater and gasping for breath prior to succumbing to his injuries.”
Takoda died with bruises and cuts all over his body. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office preliminary autopsy report didn’t list Takoda’s cause of death.
The Dayton Daily News reached out to Dayton Police on Friday afternoon but didn’t immediately get a response. Child Services spokesman Kevin Lavoie said his agency was working with investigators.
“While we cannot discuss confidential case information, Montgomery County Children Services takes all reports of child abuse very seriously,” he said. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement as part of their investigation.”
The three defendants are incarcerated at the Montgomery County Jail on $1 million bonds. Montgomery County Prosecutor Matt Heck Jr. said in a statement that the investigation into the circumstances around the child’s death is still ongoing.
In the indictment against the women, prosecutors allege Hinze and Ebert “did recklessly abuse a child under 18 years of age,” and caused serious physical harm against the youth. The crimes allegedly occurred between Nov. 1, 2018, through Dec. 1, 2019.
“Amanda Hinze and Jennifer Ebert … did recklessly torture or cruelly abuse a child under 18 years of age,” the indictment reads.
They also say the endangerment included serious harm from corporal punishment.