RLS Media learned that the boy, identified by family as Isaiah Jones Jr., was brought to University Hospital unconscious and unresponsive.
Medical personnel noticed clear signs of blunt force trauma, and the child appeared to have suffered a broken neck. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Police were notified by hospital staff and arrived to find an acquaintance of the child being held at the scene for questioning.
That person, later identified as Ms. Shalonda Lemons, was initially charged with child endangerment. Her charges were upgraded to murder.
RLS Media has confirmed Lemons is the mother of Isaiah’s father’s girlfriend. The beating was witnessed by Isaiah’s 4-year-old brother, who family members say was also attacked but not severely.
Both children were allegedly whipped with an unknown object during the ordeal.
According to preliminary findings, Isaiah’s mother had driven him from North Carolina to visit his father in Irvington Township. The father then brought the boy to Lemons’ apartment in Newark.
Sometime during the night, someone inside the home informed the father that Isaiah had been injured. He rushed the unconscious boy to University Hospital, where medical staff tried to save his life, but could not.
Family members believe Lemons may have been high on an unknown drug at the time of the attack.
Isaiah had reportedly been living in Newark’s Upper West Ward for at least six months prior to his death but had never been enrolled in school.
Family members told RLS Media they attempted to register him at George Washington Carver Elementary but were allegedly denied for unclear reasons.
UPDATE: 7-Year-Old Beaten to Death Inside Newark West Ward Apartment
By: Richard L. Smith A tragic and deeply disturbing investigation is unfolding in Essex County after a 7-year-old boy originally from Garysburg, North Carolina, was beaten to death inside a Bradley Court apartment in Newark’s West Ward.The incident is believed to have occurred just before...
6 months is longer than just a visit.
Also how long was the boy staying with his killer and what reason was the boy denied school enrollment?
