PALATKA, Fla. – A 4-year-old boy has died one day after he was choked to the point of unconsciousness by an 11-year-old boy, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
The St. Augustine medical examiner's office released the findings Wednesday of its autopsy on 4-year-old Brayden Anthony Trahern. The ME determined Brayden's death was a homicide and he was killed by strangulation.
Deputies who responded to the Westover Mobile Home Park around 4 a.m. Monday said they found Braydan partially on a blow-up mattress and partially on the floor of a bedroom. The police report noted the boy had bruising on his neck.
Deputies performed CPR until paramedics arrived and rushed Brayden to Shands at UF Health Gainesville. The Sheriff's Office said he died at 12:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Putnam County deputies determined the boy was choked by an 11-year-old boy who lived in the same home. The boy was initially charged with aggravated battery resulting in serious damage and detained in a juvenile detention facility in Gainesville Those charges will likely be updated based on the victim's death.
A woman resident of the mobile home told investigators that she was awakened in the night and told something was wrong.
"These two -- the 11-year-old and the 4-year-old -- were in a bedroom by themselves and the 11-year-old came out and said something about the 4-year-old not breathing, and that's when they went and checked on him and called the Sheriff's Office," Putnam County Capt. Dick Schauland said.
The mother of the 11-year-old performed CPR until deputies arrived. She told deputies that as she ran past her son, he said, "I just want him to come back to life."
The boys are not related, but their parents are in a relationship.
According to the report, the mother told deputies her son has anger issues and is on medication. She said there was a previous incident where he was choking someone to the point of that person turning blue in the face before they were able to stop him.
The boy was recently released from a program in Miami for unrelated sexual behaviors. He was on good behavior for the first couple of weeks, then was becoming angrier.
Investigators were also told the boy had lit his crib on fire when he was 3 to 4 years old, which resulted in the family home burning to the ground. He also had been known to dig up dead farm animals, cut off their limbs and carry them around as if they were still alive.
Twelve people were reportedly inside the home at the time of Monday morning's incident: six adults and six juveniles.
"I would see them out in the park playing with other little kids. The mother would be out there with them," said a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous. "They'd be in their yard, playing. Never got in trouble or anything. They were good, well-mannered children."