Boy, 6, Who Died Had Lacerations Covering His Body

The 6-year-old boy who was allegedly killed by his father this week suffered lacerations on about 80 percent of his body, wounds that appear to have been caused by a rope or a cord, according to a Prince George's County police charging document.

The child, Tyrell Anthony Hannibal, was not breathing when he was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center by his father, Richard Rose Jr., about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to the charging document.

Medical staff tried to save the boy to no avail, and Tyrell was pronounced dead.

The document was released yesterday after Rose, 23, appeared in the Upper Marlboro courthouse before District Court Judge Thurman H. Rhodes for a bond hearing.

Rose, of the 2200 block of Brightseat Road in Landover, was arrested Thursday in connection with the death. He was charged with child abuse resulting in death, and a court commissioner initially set bail at $1 million.

Rhodes ordered Rose held without bond pending a preliminary hearing. Police said other charges are pending.

According to a law enforcement source who asked not to be identified because the case is open, Tyrell lived in Fayetteville, N.C., with his mother and was in Prince George's for a holiday visit with his father.

Relatives in North Carolina have declined to comment.

According to the charging document, Rose told medical staff at the hospital that he had just picked up Tyrell from visiting Rose's uncle in Suitland. Rose said that he had dropped off Tyrell with a friend of the uncle's on Christmas Eve and called his uncle Tuesday -- the day after Christmas -- to check on the boy, according to the charging document.

Rose told medical staff that the uncle said he had whipped Tyrell because the boy had touched another child inappropriately, according to the charging document.

Rose said that when he picked up Tyrell on Wednesday from the purported visit with his uncle, the boy walked to his car and fell asleep with foam coming from his mouth. Rose said he drove the boy to the hospital, according to the document.

However, Rose's girlfriend, Latoya Jones, and Jones's cousin, Donneika Bullock, told detectives that Rose was the boy's primary caregiver that weekend and had custody of Tyrell, the charging document states.

Jones told investigators that she saw a scar on Tyrell's face the day after Christmas but did not ask Rose about it "because he had an attitude problem."