SILVERTON — Henri Bradshaw was floored when he heard DeMarlo Hayes was charged with murder in the death of her 9-year-old son, Diarro Hayes.

        Mr. Bradshaw, principal of Silverton Paideia School, where Diarro was a third-grader, said the boy's mother was involved in school activities.

Bradshaw

        He said Ms. Hayes, 26, took an interest in her son's work and progress and even baked for school events. She would do whatever administrators asked.

        “I never once could have thought that she could have done something like that,” Mr. Bradshaw said. “She would come whenever we called her. I just don't know ... what happened.”

        Silverton police say the boy was asphyxiated Friday, taken to Daniel Drake Park in Kennedy Heights and burned under a picnic shelter. Ms. Hayes remained jailed Tuesday night in lieu of $100,000 bond. She is due back in court May 24.

        Tom Sherwood, 32, of Springdale, stopped at the Drake Park shelter house Tuesday to pray. “We're trying to turn something bad into something good,” he said.

Tom Sherwood of Sprindale stopped at Daniel Drake Park on Tuesday to pray (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        A former longtime resident of Kennedy Heights, he is a member of Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church, which sometimes uses the shelter for outdoor services.

        “What has gone on here is beyond understanding,” he said. “The desecration of this little boy's body at this site is something you just can't comprehend.”

        Events leading up to Diarro's death paint a picture of conflict.

        On Mother's Day, Ms. Hayes tearfully pleaded for her son to come home.

        But police say Ms. Hayes knew that would never happen, that Diarro was already dead.

        “When we got the call on our 911 tapes (we suspected) he was already dead,” Silverton Police Chief Michael Daudistel said.

        The murder charge does not fit the image of the person who lives next door to Leonard and Ocie Robinson on 9 St. James Avenue.

Hayes

Diarro

        “She (Ms. Hayes) seemed to care a lot about the children and they appeared well disciplined,” Mrs. Robinson said. “She was a quiet person and did not spend a lot of time outdoors. I never saw her working in the yard or anything.”

        Ms. Hayes' criminal record presented a different side. From 1993 through 2001, she was arrested for several, mostly minor, offenses.

        On July 6, 1993, she was charged with two counts of felonious assault and was acquitted.

        Police records show that Ms. Hayes was arrested for unauthorized use of a vehicle in January 1997. Later that year she was cited for operating a vehicle without a license and failure to obey a traffic signal. In July 1998, she was charged with theft and criminal trespassing. In February 1999, she was cited for operating a vehicle without insurance, speeding and using unauthorized license plates.

        Mindy Good, director of communication for jobs and family services at the Hamilton County Human Service Department, said her agency became involved with Ms. Hayes in 1993.

BURIAL FUND

The Silverton Neighborhood Block Watch Association has established a fund to help with the cost of burial for Diarro Hayes.     Contributions can be made at the Huntington National Bank, 7221 Montgomery Road, Silverton 45236. Information: 936-6224.

        “She was classified as an overwhelmed parent because she was young and was trying to raise two children,” Ms. Good said. “We offered counseling, but we have not had contact with her since.”

        Police officers have said the case is disturbing.

        “It's hard to describe a motive for killing a child,” Chief Daudistel said. “We'll remember this for a long time.”

        Several Cincinnati Public School psychologists were at Diarro's school on Tuesday. Ministers have also been by, Mr. Bradshaw said.

        “The goal is to make sure we're focused on the needs of the children first,” he said. “Everybody wants to know why.”

        While sadness permeated the school on Monday, teachers became angry on Tuesday when they learned of the charge.

        “One of my teachers has a 9-year-old and she cried all morning,” Mr. Bradshaw said. “The teachers are just distraught.”

        Mr. Bradshaw remembers last seeing Diarro on Friday, as the boy walked home with his sister, who also attended the school.

        About a mile away from Diarro's home, the shelter at Daniel Drake Park is at the top of a hill overlooking Interstate 71.

        Reminders of the killing remain. The shelter's concrete floor is scorched and pitted.

        But several balloons serve as a memorial to Diarro. The balloons have handwritten messages, including “Jesus loves all the little children,” “May God bless you,” and “We will miss you.”

       Allen Howard and Michael E. Keating contributed to this report.
       
       

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