Chester County District Attorney
Three-year-old Scott McMillan was tortured for three days by his mother and her boyfriend, according to Pennsylvania authorities, until he finally died, battered, beaten and bleeding from his ears and nose.
A Pennsylvania toddler died after being tortured for three days by his mother and her boyfriend, Chester County authorities said. The couple has been charged with murder in an "American horror story" that featured the child being hung upside down and beaten with an aluminum strip, according to the prosecutor.
Three-year-old Scott McMillan was found dead Tuesday in a West Caln Township trailer shared by his mother, Jillian Tait, her boyfriend Gary Fellenbaum, and his wife Amber Fellenbaum. Scott was found dead by Amber, who phoned 911.
The little boy's battered body was covered in bruises, puncture wounds and cuts. His brain had bled. "Our ER nurses see a lot of terrible things, but when they saw his body, they wept," said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan on Thursday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Hogan said he would seek the death penalty against the mother and her lover.
Amber Fellenbaum allegedly did not participate in the ritualistic torture, authorities said. But she said nothing until the child was dead and has been charged with child endangerment.
Scott had been hung by his feet and taped to a chair while he was bludgeoned with a curtain rod and an aluminun strip, authorities said. He was also lashed with a homemade whip and beaten with fists. His 6-year-old brother, Ryan, was also abused, but survived. He is hospitalized in Delaware, the paper said.
Amber Fellenbaum also has an 11-month-daughter. The girl was not harmed and is in the custody of social services. Amber and her husband are reportedly divorcing, but all three adults lived together and worked together at a nearby Walmart.
Chester County District Attorney
Gary Fellenbaum and Jillian Tait have been charged with murder in the beating death of her 3-year-old son, Scott McMillan.
Scott's mother told police in a statement that she and Gary Fellenbaum beat both of her boys as they hung upside down. On Sunday, they began targeting the youngest boy, punching him and throwing him against a wall. When he refused to eat breakfast on Monday, Fellenbaum became seething mad and repeatedly threw the 3-year old against the wall. Then they put him in the shower to revive him and put him to bed, the mother said in the statement, according to police.
On Tuesday, they taped his arms and legs to a chair and pummeled him until he went limp. They told his brother to hit the toddler, too.
Then the boy was put to bed and the couple went out to shop for a car, stopped and had lunch, then came home and took a nap, the paper reported. Later, the boy was found not breathing, and bleeding from his nose and ears.
To Post Comments Sign In