The parents of a 7-year-old Newark boy who died from blunt force trauma have been indicted on charges of manslaughter, officials from the Essex County Prosecutor's office said.
Khadejrah Rawls, 28, and her boyfriend, Christopher Spearman, 29, both of Newark, were indicted by an Essex County grand jury Wednesday in connection with the killing of her son, Michael Moore Jr., officials said.
The pair were indicted on several charges, including first degree aggravated manslaughter.
Newark police officers responded to the couple's home near Munn Avenue Oct. 2 following reports of an unresponsive child, officials said.
That's when authorities discovered the 7-year-old unconscious in the bathtub of his family's Newark apartment with broken bones. He was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma.
His death was ruled suspicious, and a medical examiner was called in to perform an autopsy. The state alleges that Moore went into cardiac arrest after being assaulted, officials said.
Moore's death came less than a month before his eighth birthday.
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Rawls was charged with child endangerment in the case. Spearman was charged with aggravated assault. Both were charged based on the child's injuries.
Attorney information for the two wasn't immediately available.
Authorities said that the boy's four siblings, his mother and her boyfriend all lived in the apartment, along with three puppies. All of them were removed from the home.
