Boy who died in Scottsdale was severely abused by relatives, court records say
Court documents revealed that a boy who was found unresponsive at a hotel in Scottsdale and died Sunday was severely abused by relatives. His brother was found with injuries too.
The biological grandmother of the child, Stephanie Davis, 51, and her husband, Thomas Desharnais, 33, were charged with one count of first-degree homicide and two counts of child abuse each, the court documents state. Davis had custody over the boy, whom the Arizona Department of Child Safety identified as Chaskah Davis Smith, and his half-brother.
Both children had multiple wounds and bruises on their bodies. The "injuries are severe and are in various stages of healing and scarring," according to court documents.
Police said Davis called 911 and said she found Chaskah not breathing in the bathtub of their room Sunday. When authorities arrived, Davis was performing CPR on him.
When emergency personnel took over, they noticed Chaskah had injuries, including a bruise on his forehead and a cut elsewhere on his body. They also said they had removed "a half liter of water" from his body through his mouth while they were trying to save him, according to the court documents. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
His half-brother was in the hotel room when authorities arrived. Officers said he had an injury as well and bruising on his eyes.
Court records: Husband said boys' mother is suspect in another homicide
During the interviews with Davis and Desharnais, he said that the biological mother of the children is a suspect in the death of Davis' son. Scottsdale police on Wednesday told The Arizona Republic they are working on verifying the validity of Desharnais' claim.
Court records state the mother lost custody of the boys in 2015 and her whereabouts are unknown.
Desharnais told police that Chaskah's biological father is unknown and his brother's biological father is in an out-of-state prison for child molestation, according to court documents.
Court records said over the past three months, Davis had become more verbally and physically abusive with the children. Desharnais told police he believes Davis was hurting the boys as a way to get back at their mother.
Davis said hurtful statements to both boys such as "lower than a piece of dirt, you're a dog," and made Chaskah sleep in the bathtub so that he would not get blood all over the room from his wounds, according to police in court records. Desharnais told police he saw Davis use metal tools to hit and hurt both children.
The abuse also included starving Chaskah for days, according to Desharnais. He never intervened in the acts of abuse he witnessed or reported them to authorities such as the Arizona Department of Child Safety, court records state.
The official cause of death will be determined by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.
Grandmother told police 11-year-old boy harmed himself
Davis said Chaskah allegedly had a history of self-harm and he had hurt himself earlier that day while the family was watching a movie. Court documents state neither she nor her husband treated his injuries.
She said Chaskah then asked for a bath so she prepared it and left him in the bathroom.
The first time she spoke with a Scottsdale police officer she said she left the bathroom for 15 minutes. The second time, she told the same officer she had only been outside of the bathroom for one minute, according to the documents. When she returned, she said Chaskah was unresponsive.
Davis denied ever hurting the children and said they would not "touch a hair on those boys." Court records state evidence in the room was consistent with what Desharnais said.
Couple were reported to DCS multiple times in 2017
The Arizona Department of Child Safety received three reports the children were abused in 2017.
Darren DaRonco, a department spokesperson, told The Republic on Tuesday that the department received a report on March 22, 2017, that Davis struck Chaskah, leaving a bruise behind his ear and a scratch to his face, but the department determined the allegations were unsubstantiated.
The department received another report on May 15, 2017, that said Davis, Desharnais and another adult physically abused Chaskah and left him with a deep purple and red bruise under his right eye, which the department also found to be unsubstantiated.
DCS received a third report on Aug. 31 alleging Desharnais picked up another child and threw him down, leaving him with an injury to his forehead. The family moved out of state during the investigation and was cross reported to that state's social services agency. DCS later determined the third claim was unsubstantiated, but didn't specify what determination the other state agency reached.
DaRonco said Chaskah's sibling was removed and placed into foster care after the death.
Elementary school noticed boy was injured in 2017
The staff of Anasazi Elementary School had reported to police in 2017 that Chaskah was injured, according to court documents, which state neither child had been enrolled in a Scottsdale Unified School District school in the years since. The district declined to comment, citing the police investigation.
Police also said in a previous investigation related to the family, Davis said she home-schooled both children. She also refused to let the kids be interviewed by detectives. No charges were filed in that investigation.
Police had contacted the family multiple times near the Extended Stay America Hotel where they lived since 2019.
Davis is being held on a $3.5 million cash bond. Desharnais is being held on a $1.5 million cash bond. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 9.
Resources for Arizonans experiencing domestic violence include:
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233)
Phoenix.gov/DomesticViolence
Chrysalis: 602-944-4999, noabuse.org.
Arizona Coalition to End Sexual & Domestic Violence: 602-279-2980.
Republic reporter Jane Florance contributed to this article.
Reach breaking news reporter Angela Cordoba Perez at Angela.CordobaPerez@Gannett.com or on Twitter @AngelaCordobaP.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Records: Boy who died in Scottsdale was severely abused by relatives
