Cash Gernon was identified by authorities on Monday. Cash was being taken care of by the girlfriend of Cash’s father, Monica Sherrod, police said.
The 4-year-old boy that was found dead on a Dallas street had been sleeping in his crib when a man lifted the sleeping toddler from his bed during the early morning hours on Saturday and carried him away, court documents based on home surveillance video revealed, the Associated Press reported.
Cash Gernon was identified by authorities on Monday. Cash was being taken care of by Monica Sherrod, the girlfriend of Cash’s father, police said. The girlfriend said Cash’s father had been absent since March and identified the person who took Cash from his bed as 18-year-old Darriyn Brown, according to The Dallas Morning News. Surveillance footage showed a man police said was Brown taking Cash from his crib and walking away, an arrest warrant obtained by the Morning News said.
The arrest affidavit that was obtained by the Morning News does not divulge the connection, if any, Brown had with Cash’s family or provide any information on the reason Brown would allegedly take the boy. Police reviewed the video footage with Sherrod, who confirmed that Brown was the man seen in the video, authorities said.
Sherrod called police shortly before 11 a.m. once she said she realized he was missing. Meanwhile, police had found Cash’s dead body nearly four hours prior, about eight blocks away from her home, the AP reported.
On Monday, Brown was charged with kidnapping and theft with an intent to commit other felonies. He is expected to face additional charges that will be determined once a forensic analysis is completed, Dallas investigators said in a statement.
Brown is being held on a $1.5 million bond at the Dallas County jail.
Sgt. Michael Vaughn with the Child Exploitation Squad Crimes Against Children told Inside Edition Digital that there are no other charges against Brown at this time. He was unable to comment on the reason the boy was not in the care of his biological mother Melinda Seagroves, and grandmother, Connie Ward. He was also unable to comment on the whereabouts of Cash’s twin brother the day of the murder.
Police in a separate interview said Cash’s mom did not know he and his twin brother were in the care of their father’s girlfriend and that the mother had been searching for her sons. Police said Cash’s twin is now with his mother, the AP reported.
Vaughn told Inside Edition Digital Cash's biological father is alive and that he did leave Cash with Sherrod, who acted as a guardian in the father's absence. Vaughn also said no charges have been filed against the girlfriend, Monica Sherrod.
On Saturday, officers received a call regarding a child that had multiple wounds and had been found deceased on a street in the 7500 block of Saddleridge Drive. A woman who had been jogging during the early morning hours found the little boy.
Dallas Assistant. Police Chief Albert Martinez, who expressed shock and outrage in the crime, said it appeared the child died in a violent manner and that he was killed around 5 a.m., the Dallas News reported.
Martinez said he also believed an edged weapon was used in the killing, the AP reported.
The jogger told the Dallas News that she initially thought the figure was a dog because all she saw was hair. As she got closer, she realized it was a little boy. His face and upper body had been covered in blood. He didn’t have any shoes or shirt on and she said there had been ants at the bottom of his feet.
Devastated, she called the police. When they arrived, they pronounced the little boy dead.
“It was heart-wrenching because this baby could have been no more than 5,” Antwainese Square, 39, told the Dallas News. “As a mother, this just — it breaks my heart.”
Gilbert said that the neighborhood, located near the Big Cedar Wilderness Trail where people bike ride, is normally a quiet area. Now it is sealed off with crime tape.
“We’re all shocked to find a little boy just over there, just right there like an animal in the middle of the road,” said a resident who lives a block away from where the boy’s body was found.
Brown reportedly lives with his parents located a half-mile from where Cash’s body was found. According to neighbors, Brown was known to walk in the area, the AP reported.
