In a disturbing twist, she initially pinned the blame on the child's 9-year-old sister for the brutal attack.
This tragic incident unfolded in February 2022, revealing a harrowing narrative of sustained abuse leading up to the child's death. The abuse reportedly included slapping, strikes with a belt and backscratcher, and even the appalling act of forcing the child to drink water from the toilet.
From The New York Post:
At first, King’s 9-year-old sister was arrested and charged with assault, after Coale claimed that the grade-schooler fatally struck her baby brother during a fight.
The young girl denied harming King, and the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office later dropped the charges against her, according to Fox 10 TV.
Coale was the toddler’s legal guardian.
On the morning of Feb. 3, 2022, police officers were called to the woman’s home on Jacob Drive and found the boy’s lifeless body covered in cuts and bruises in various stages of healing, suggesting prolonged abuse, according to a detective’s testimony during a preliminary hearing last year.
The boy, whose face was covered with a towel, had cuts on his nose and lips, bruising under both eyes, old scars on his back and dried blood on his buttocks, the station WPMI previously reported.
Children living in the neighborhood told police that they saw Coale hit her nephew on multiple occasions, prompting their mom to stop letting them go to the woman’s house, reported the station WKRG.
One of the young witnesses said they also saw the woman strip the 4-year-old King naked and whip him with a diamond-studded belt.
This is just a beyond heartbreaking story of abuse. It's unfathomable that anyone, especially a family member, would treat an innocent child like this.
I hope this woman get's the punishment she deserves.
