Mom arraigned on multiple charges in young son’s death
A Detroit mom who checked into a psychiatric facility before the decomposed body of her young son was discovered in her bed was arraigned Thursday in the boy’s murder.
Deanna Shanta Minor, 28, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of her 3-year-old son, Aaron Minor.
The child’s body was found lying in a bed of his mom’s apartment around 2:40 p.m. May 25. Police had been called to the dwelling at 4434 Trumbull on Detroit’s west side on a report that a deceased child was found there after a maintenance man sensed an odor coming from the apartment.
Minor was arraigned at in 36th District Court. She is charged with felony murder (child abuse), second degree murder, first- and second-degree child abuse in addition to failure to report a dead body. She is scheduled for a probable cause hearing 8:30 a.m. Aug. 11. A preliminary examination for Minor is set for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 16, both before Judge Shannon Holmes.
Minor was remanded to the Wayne County Jail.
The boy’s body was found by the maintenance worker at the Madison Estates complex in the Woodbridge neighborhood, near Wayne State University. Authorities said there were no signs of trauma inside the mother’s apartment.
Details about how the child died are expected to be released during the preliminary examination, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Minor’s family said she was hospitalized because she “had some problems” with depression but was believed to be working with a social service agency. After the discovery of the boy’s body, Detroit police said Minor was found in a Downriver crisis center.
“Deanna had some problems, but social services was supposed to be working with her,” Minor’s grandmother, Beverly Mylum, said in May. “She was a loving and giving mother. I didn’t see any signs of abuse.
“She was going through depression for a very long time. She just snapped. She was quiet. I have no knowledge of alcohol or drugs.”
Mylum described Aaron as an average toddler who was always well-groomed. The woman said her granddaughter kept a clean home.
The child’s father is in prison.
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