The mother of 7-year-old Ethan Hauschultz pled for justice after her son was severely beaten and buried in the snow while in the care of his legal guardians.
The Wisconsin boy died after two adults and a teen allegedly punished him for failing to memorize a list of bible verses.
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Andrea Everett spoke to Fox 11 about what happened the night before her son died at a relative’s house. She said:
“When I got there Ethan did not have a heartbeat and his temperature was 23 degrees. They worked on him for five hours, giving him CPR the entire time, and still couldn’t get a heartbeat. There was no brain activity.”
According to court documents, Ethan was lying face-down and buried in a “little coffin of snow” after the beating for not knowing 13 bible verses, reports WBAY.
Authorities announced in October 2018 that they were still looking into the investigation and hadn’t filed criminal charges or arrested any suspects. Right after the little boy’s death on April 20, Everett said:
“No one is arrested at all. I mean, my 7-year-old died for no reason at all.”
She continued:
“I want justice for my son, and the person responsible should go to jail for a very long time.”
On Friday, Timothy Hauschultz, his wife, Tina McKeever-Hauschultz, and 15-year-old Damian Hauschultz were arrested and charged for what police called a “suspicious death,” reports WLOX.
In a statement released from the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office, Timothy’s son made Ethan carry a 45-pound log outside while he allegedly kicked, struck and poked him, and then covered him in about 80 pounds of packed snow and ice. The department wrote:
Over the course of 1-1.5 hours, the 15-year-old hit, kicked, struck and poked Ethan numerous times. He repeatedly shoved Ethan to the ground and rolled the heavy log across Ethan’s chest. He stood on his body and head while Ethan was face-down in a puddle. He ultimately buried Ethan completely in snow. Timothy and Tina eventually transported Ethan to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Ethan’s court-appointed guardians, Timothy, 48, and Tina, 35, took the boy to a hospital where he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
The Hauschultzes were arrested nearly a year later.
Damian Hauschultz, 15, is charged with first-degree reckless homicide. Timothy is charged with felony murder and felony contributing to the delinquency of a child, and Tina was arrested on her failure to prevent bodily harm and intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child.
Bail was set for the boy’s three relatives.
