DAVENPORT- A five-year-old boy from Davenport has died from what police say is a deadly case of child abuse, while the man wanted in connection with the death, is still on the run.
JaShawn Bussell passed away after being taken off life support in Iowa City, according to his paternal aunt.
"He was pronounced dead Tuesday. He had broken ribs, he had a fractured spine, he had the brain injury, bleeding on the brain", said Esha Malone, who lives in Wisconsin.
She says JaShawn also had a lacerated liver, and a punctured spleen and was lifeless when he was transported to Iowa City from Davenport.
"From what we know, they say he was beaten to death," said Malone, who is the sister of the boy's father.
Police are still looking for Tre Henderson, the live-in boyfriend of the little boy's mother.
"His mother and the boyfriend claim that he fell off the kitchen counter, and he was knocked unconscious, in which case the boyfriend threw water on him, and put his clothes on and rushed him to the mother's job, instead of the emergency room," said Malone.
"We don't believe he fell off the counter. The nurses and the doctors said he had bruises from head to toe. We saw bruises on his face, and the back of head was swollen. Some of the nurses said that you could see footprints on his hand on him, you could see footprints, like maybe he, they were stomping and kicking him in some way," she said.
A police affidavit states that the little boy was not taken in for any kind of medical attention for four days, in spite of signs that something was very wrong.
"She (the mother) saw the bruises, he was having seizures, throwing up, and she still failed to take him to the emergency room or hospital. If you see signs, you take them to the emergency room," Malone said.
Henderson she says, may be in Chicago and she hopes he turns himself in.
"Our family is hurt. If he didn't do it, tell us what happened. We just want justice for JaShawn. He didn't deserve what happened to him. He was just a kid. A precious boy who loved Paw Patrol."