An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the death of a 4-year-old boy in Dallas, after police reportedly viewed footage from a baby monitoring system in the child's bedroom.
© Dallas Police Department Darriynn Brown in the custody of Dallas Police Department. Brown was arrested on Sunday in relation to the death of 4-year-old Cash Gernon.Cash Gernon, 4, was found dead at around 6:45am on Saturday morning near his family home in Dallas, Texas, with 18-year-old Darriynn Brown arrested on Sunday in relation to his death.
Brown has been charged with burglary and kidnapping, with the police waiting for forensic results before considering making any additional charges against him. The FBI is assisting the local department with evidence collecting in the case.
On Monday evening, a Dallas Police arrest affidavit obtained by Fox 5 revealed that a baby monitoring system helped them identify Brown, who they suspect to have kidnapped and killed the 4-year-old boy just hours before his body was found.
The affidavit said that a detective with the department watched the baby monitoring video with the girlfriend of the child's father, who identified Brown as the man who took Cash from his crib at around 5am on Saturday.
However, the police are still unsure how Brown was able to get into the house or the motive behind his alleged actions. A connection between the child and Brown has also not yet been revealed.
On Monday, Dallas Police warned that "fraudulent GoFundMe accounts" had been set up to raise funds for the child's family and warned people to "verify the source before donating."
Albert Martinez, the executive assistant police chief, told reporters on Monday that the toddler's death appeared to be "violent," as the department suspects an "edged weapon" weapon was used in the killing.
The assistant police chief added: "Unfortunately a small child was lost today in our city through a violent act and we will pursue justice to find whoever did this and bring some sort of closure, not only to the family but to the community.
"We are shocked, we are very angry about what has happened to this small child."
Cash's body was found by local resident Antwainese Square, 39, during an early morning walk on Saturday. She told NBC 5 that she initially thought the toddler was a dog, before realising it was a dead child.
She added: "The baby didn't have shoes, he didn't have a shirt on and he was just laying there. For a kid to have to go through that, that's just disturbing, and that's disturbing for me to carry all day."
Brown is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $1.5 million bond. A memorial will take place for the 4-year-old on the street corner where his body was found in the coming days.
Newsweek has contacted the Dallas Police Department for additional comment and a copy of the arrest affidavit.
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