Cash Gernon murder: Darriynn Brown tried breaking into cars a month before boy's death
A neighbor of four-year-old Cash Gernon has now come forward with some new revelations. He claims that a month before Gernon was found dead, he saw prime suspect Darriynn Brown trying to break into cars in his driveway. He says that had law enforcement officials acted on his tip, the young boy might have still been alive.
According to a new footage that has come to light, a surveillance camera at the neighbor's home recorded a man fitting the description of 18-year-old Brown trying to open car doors on April 19, 2021.
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'We called a month ago, and now a child's dead'
The neighbor, who is just five minutes from where Gernon lived in Dallas with his father's girlfriend Monica Sherrod, recorded the footage on his CCTV and showed it to a local publication. It showed a man fitting 18-year-old Brown's description checking on door handles in his driveway to see if they are unlocked. The neighbor, who did not want to be identified, reportedly said that he also captured a much clearer photo of Brown as he was trying to break a home surveillance camera. "How do we make sure that this doesn't happen again?" the neighbor told WFAA-TV. "We called a month ago, and now a child's dead."
Four-year-old Gernon was abducted from the bed he shared with his twin brother Carter in their home on May 15, 2021. Brown, who had been reportedly watching the home and the boys for weeks, allegedly stabbed the child repeatedly to death and dumped his body on a nearby street. The child's body was later discovered by Antwainese Square. The neighbor reportedly told the publication that he had picked Brown out of a lineup after seeing news reports of his arrest in connection to Gernon's death.
Darriynn Brown was reported 'several times'
According to the report, many other neighbors told a public meeting of community leaders and police in the southwest Dallas neighborhood that they reported Brown to authorities 'several times' but there was no follow-up from police. Neighbor Jose Alvarado spoke about the time when he checked his Ring doorbell camera for any clues in the case and actually discovered something shocking. As per reports, the video appeared to show Brown lurking around his fence, roughly 10 weeks before the fatal abduction.
In the video provided to Daily Beast, Brown is seen opening the gate to Alvarado's yard, peering in and then quickly walking away. "It's really scary," Alvarado reportedly told the publication. "I have two kids, one girl and one boy, and they play basketball in the backyard."
On May 16, 2021, Brown was arrested and charged with kidnapping Gernon. According to reports, police are apparently waiting for the return of forensic evidence to decide whether Brown will be charged with murder. He is currently being held on charges of kidnapping and theft, and reports say that allegations against him are likely to be upgraded.