By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - A 13-year-old boy is accused of killing his year-old half-brother, whose body showed "evidence of bruising and healed burns," court records show - and police said they were investigating allegations that the family's five children were frequently left alone.

"What little I know about the case breaks my heart and sickens my stomach, that a little baby could be hurt and killed by its own sibling," Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper said Tuesday.

The child, who turned 1 last month, was pronounced dead at Fort Hamilton Hospital just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. "Members of the hospital staff and officers viewing the deceased observed evidence of bruising and healed burns," a search warrant says.

City police arrested the half-brother on charges of murder and domestic violence. There were various accounts about what he may have done to the child. A court record shows that the teen told police he used a metal bar to strike the boy's back. The Enquirer is not naming the youth.

The boy's mother told WCPO-TV that her eldest son had told her that the baby fell down some steps. The woman said she didn't believe that explanation, and had reason to believe that the teen had strangled the child.

The mother said she had left the child asleep in its bedroom when she left to run an errand. When she returned, she found the child on the couch, not breathing.

In a call to 911, she pleaded in English with a dispatcher: "Can you send an ambulance? Please, please hurry up!" In Spanish, the woman repeatedly asks, "How did he fall?" to someone in the background.

Coroner Dr. Richard P. Burkhardt had not yet ruled on a cause of death and declined to discuss the child's injuries Tuesday.

The teen is being held in the county Juvenile Detention Center and is set to appear today before Juvenile Court Judge Ron Craft. Piper said prosecutors will pursue a "serious youthful offender" status for the teen, which allows for stricter penalties if he is convicted.

"It was a law created exactly for this type of situation," Piper said. "The crime is too serious and too heinous merely to treat him as a youthful offender only. The designation of 'serious youthful offender,' and the consequences of being a serious youthful offender are appropriate here in every way possible."

The teen's neighbors said that although they witnessed some disturbing behavior from the teen, they felt sorry for him. They said he was often left in charge of the family's four other children, ages 10, 3, 2, and 13 months. "I don't think he should take all the rap. ... It's too much stress on a 13-year-old to have him always watching all those kids," said George Banfield, who lives in an adjacent apartment.

Police Lt. Scott Scrimizzi said detectives were investigating allegations that the children were frequently left unsupervised. He said charges against the 28-year-old mother were possible.

The child who died was the subject of a Butler County Children Services investigation earlier this year, authorities said. But the case was closed after bruises could not be clearly linked to abuse. Also, the family temporarily moved out of state.

Children Services spokesman Bob Walker said the agency had no open case on the family at the time of the baby's death. He said the agency is trying to make sure the remaining children are safe and get whatever help they might need.

The suspect had previous contact with the county's Juvenile Court. Rob Clevenger, court administrator, said the boy's mother signed charges in April 2002, alleging the boy was unruly and had brought "an object indistinguishable from a firearm" into a school zone. But she later withdrew those charges after he spent a day in juvenile detention.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com