FREDERIKSTED — Four-year-old Aaron Benjamin died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the results of an autopsy released by the Virgin Islands Police Department.
Kyle Christopher, 22, and Delicia Daniel, 29, were charged Monday with first-degree murder, third-degree assault-domestic violence, aggravated child abuse and child neglect and aggravated assault and battery in Benjamin’s death.
Christopher, stepfather of Benjamin, admitted to police that he struck Benjamin with an open hand on October 10, causing the boy to fall and hit his head against a chair. The child died in a bathroom at Lorraine Village Apartments the next day.
VIPD spokesman Glen Dratte said the autopsy revealed that the child suffered other injuries, but investigators are prohibited from providing further details due to privacy laws.
Dr. Leslie Burton, the on-call physician at the Juan F. Luis Hospital, said Benjamin was brought to the emergency room Dead on Arrival (DOA). Burton told police the child had old and new abrasions to his face, chest, back and buttocks. He also had bite marks on each shoulder and many other injuries.
Neither Christopher or Daniel were able to post $1 million bail each. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Miguel Camacho ordered that the couple be held at Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility until trial.
After the Benjamin’s biological father came forward to say that he had reported the abuse of the child to the VIPD and V.I. Department of Human Services, police continued their investigation into the case and Human Services launched its own investigation as well.
“If you don’t want the child, put the child up for adoption, but don’t abuse the child,” Kenneth Moolenaar, Jr. said on a Virgin Islands Free Press social media platform. “If you are having problems, find help or drown yourself.”