Sickening new details about death of boy, 7, who cops say was tortured to death by his mom and her two transgender lovers

By JOE HUTCHISON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:28, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 15:52, 11 August 2026 A little boy who police say was tortured to death by his mother and her two trans lovers died of blunt force trauma to the head and may have been molested, officials said.   Distressing new details about the death of William Michael Evans-Ellis were shared by coroner Dr Lakshmi Sammarco at a press conference in Cincinnati Tuesday. William was found dead in his home in the city last week, with his mother Kaitlin Evans, 38, as well as her two transgender lovers Nessa Keaney and Kirby Rankin, both 23, now all charged with murder.   At a press conference, Sammarco, who is the coroner for Hamilton County, also said that due to the nature of the case they could not rule out that William had been the victim of a sexual assault prior to his death. The youngster was found dead inside a home in Oakley on Thursday, after being tortured inside the address, authorities claimed.  The trio were co-parenting the youth prosecutors said in court last week after they were arraigned over the death of William.  Hamilton County court records seen by the Daily Mail indicate that both Keaney and Rankin are biological males. Evans is the boy's biological mother.  According to WLWT, prosecutors said in court that there was evidence to show that William was being abused for over two months by the trio.  William Michael Evans-Ellis was found dead last week inside the Cincinnati home he shared with his mother and her trans lovers Kaitlin Evans, pictured here, is the biological mother of William Evans who was found dead inside the home in Oakley Hamilton County court records seen by the Daily Mail indicate that both Keaney, right, and Rankin, left, are biological males  After police entered the property, prosecutors said they found him in a closet where he had been bound and duct-taped.  It was claimed that despite neglecting and torturing the boy, they managed to take a dog of theirs to a vet to be vaccinated the day before his death.  Investigators said the boy suffered visible injuries which included 'indicated physical beatings' over his body.  He also suffered impact injuries to the back of his head and had been water tortured for a period of time and was badly burned, investigators said.   An attorney for Evans claimed that she did not cause the death of her son, saying that one of the others caused his death but did not name either Rankin or Keaney. Her attorney did say in court that she had failed to save her son, and pleaded with the judge for a $250,000 bond. Prosecutors asked for a $1 million bond on the murder charge and a further $500,000 on a child endangerment charge. The judge sided with the prosecution.  The boy's other biological parent, who was not identified, was given the chance to address her in court, telling her: 'I trusted you.' Prosecutors said in court last week that they found him in a closet where he had been bound and duct-taped William also suffered impact injuries to the back of his head and had been water tortured for a period of time and was badly burned  It was claimed that despite neglecting and torturing the boy, they managed to take a pet of theirs to a vet to be vaccinated the day before his death According to Fox56, they also said that William had been kept away from them 'over lies'.  A lawyer for Keaney said she had failed to 'administer treatment' for the boy's injuries which were allegedly 'caused by somebody else.' Her attorney requested a $200,000 bond, prosecutors pushed back saying that Keaney failed to inform the authorities of the abuse. Her bond was set at $1 million.  Attorneys for Rankin requested an evaluation, saying she suffered from 'documented serious mental health issues'. The judge agreed, with Rankin to be back in court for the results at the beginning of next month.  A detective who was part of the investigation said that Rankin disclosed her own involvement in the abuse and implicated the two others as being involved.  Her bond was set at $1 million on the murder charge, with another $100,000 secured for the child endangerment charge.  A detective said the case was 'one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse' that he had ever seen in his two decades of work.  The trio are next back in court on August 17. All of them are on suicide watch inside Hamilton County Jail, Fox19 reported.