Missouri man kills girlfriend's toddler son while screaming 'do you love me' after months of ruthless torture
JOPLIN, MISSOURI: A two-year-old died on Tuesday, June 2, after allegedly suffering physical abuse and torture for months. Brian O’Grodnick allegedly abused Jameson Long for months while filming the torture on his phone. Two days before the boy’s death, the 22-year-old accused allegedly attacked him at his home.
According to reports, shortly before Long’s death, his mother Graci Simpson shared a heart-wrenching post on Facebook as she wrote: “I want everyone to understand that Jameson is gone. The only thing working on its own is his heart and it’s badly injured/dying best case. He is on life support but will be fully dead soon.”
The grieving mother reportedly said that she was “beyond broken” after seeing her son battling for his life in hospital. She also explained why she has shared the update about her son on social media so that “everyone can start to grieve because the reality is I’m going to have to bury my baby.” Simpson later said that the medical tests done on her toddler son had confirmed that he was brain-dead.
Long died at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was taken for specialist treatment. Joplin Police Officers responded to the child’s home on May 31 around 9.32 am after they got to know about a child who was unconscious and not breathing. However, it was not clear who called them for help.
When the investigators reached the location, they started life-saving measures after finding Long in critical condition. Later, Emergency Medical Services took the boy to a local hospital, and from there he was shifted to the Kansas City hospital.
O’Grodnick, who is not the child’s biological father, and his mother's boyfriend, was reportedly arrested and charged with felony child abuse on Monday, June 1. The charges against him are likely to be upgraded in the wake of his alleged victim’s death.
A probable-cause affidavit filed with the charges stated that at least four of the alleged abuse videos discovered in O’Grodnick’s phone happened throughout April and May this year. In the first incident on his phone said to show the suspect pinching the corners of the toddler’s mouth, before hitting the child’s face. Another footage reportedly shot the next day showed O’Grodnick pinching Long’s face again while making him repeat phrases, before striking him across the face.
The affidavit further stated that on April 22, O’Grodnick captured himself on his phone while choking the toddler while making him beg for water. He later lightly touched his fist to the child's face twice before actually punching his face on the third pass. In a disturbing torture clip, he is seen saying 'Do you love me?' while grabbing Long by his hair and demanding his affection.
The affidavit added that the toddler was covered in bruises and scratches. The alleged attacks have reportedly culminated in the boy being left unconscious on Sunday morning, May 31. It has been said that O’Grodnick admitted during interrogation that he recorded the incidents on his phone and committed the acts of abuse the clips show.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been set up to support the child’s parents, Graci Simpson and Chris Long. The message on the page read: “Chris & Graci are experiencing the worst thing any parent could ever go through. Due to the hideous actions of someone else, their baby boy sustained injuries his little boy could not recover from.”