A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy who was allegedly tortured and murdered by his grandmother was flagged to authorities as a potential abused child weeks before his death, it is claimed.
Calls were made to the Department of Health and Human Services and its Bureau for Children and Families about the wellbeing of Keaton Boggs, who was seen covered in bruises shortly before his death, according to two people who know his family.
Keaton was admitted to the hospital in March, where staff members quickly alerted authorities due to the nature of the boy’s injuries.
His head trauma was so severe that the boy had bleeding on the brain and irreversible brain damage, according to the criminal complaint.
Hospital workers became suspicious when the defendants' stories did not explain the injuries Keaton had sustained.
Grandmother Michelle Boggs , 48, Peter Wodzinski, 32, and his wife Chasity Wodzinski, 29, are now behind bars awaiting trial.
They are facing 15 years to life if found guilty.
Chasity Wodzinski and Michelle Boggs are the boy’s biological aunt and grandmother respectively, while Wodzinski is his uncle.
At least three concerned citizens who knew the defendants placed four calls to CPS or DHHS just this year.
One individual left a message for DHHS before speaking to someone at the agency about what they perceived to be serious neglect.
They said that after detailing concerns about his bruising, which Keaton claimed to have done to himself, they were asked a lengthy series of questions.
"They want to know where they are why they are there and who is in charge, and I just didn't know what was going on in that house," said that caller.
"I mean, I thought it was just [grandmother] Michelle [Boggs] taking care of him, but I always saw him with [aunt] Chastity and her kids."
The friend of another caller said that the person they spoke too seemed to be downplaying the threat and "was only concerned if he was going to get shot in the head that night."
And the third caller never followed up after leaving a message after being assured that a family member was looking into the situation.
None of those reports were followed up as far as the callers and their friends could recall.
DHHS, West Virginia State Police, the Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and state court clerks have refused to respond to repeated requests for comment, documents or information by The Sun.
Horrific new details were revealed in a court hearing last month that was first covered by WV News.
The hearing was to decide if Michelle Boggs could get bail in the case set at $50,000 or less.
Her lawyer argued that she felt unsafe behind bars due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In response, Harrison County Assistant Prosecutor Ginma Snuffer recounted details of Keaton's condition when he arrived at the hospital just two days before his death.
The boy arrived with old and new injuries after he was found unconscious by his aunt and grandmother. Snuffer said in court.
Instead of calling an ambulance for the boy, the two drove him to the hospital.
Keaton had to be intubated and resuscitated immediately, and was airlifted to another hospital.
Once there, doctors quickly realized the boy had a 'catastrophic brain injury' that would have left him with brain damage even if he had managed to survive his injuries.
They also found bleeding on the brain, bruising to his entire face and collarbone.
There was also the 4cm laceration on his genitalia and damage to his testicles.
Snuffer told the court that the injuries came from his grandmother.
She told him she would cut it off if he didn't stop playing with it," Snuffer told the judge.
Boggs had her release denied, as did her daughter and son-in-law a week prior.
All three maintain their innocence in the case.
At the time of his alleged murder, Keaton's mother Jessika Bishop-Holt had been eagerly anticipating a reunion with her son.
She had been striped of visitation rights due to her past struggles with drugs, but after getting clean was hopeful she might get to reunite with the youngest of her five children.
Jessika's mother Patty Holt said that Michelle Boggs had tried to block that from happening though in a Facebook post.
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"You know Michelle Boggs you told me my daughter would never get her son so I guess you were right," wrote Patty.
"God says we must forgive and I know that is the right thing to do but I will continue to pray for God to help me because I have forgiven all in my past but this is really hard..God please help me."
In that same post she also said: "My heart is numb and I pray so hard for my daughter that is not gonna be able to give him that big hug that she has longed to do."
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