New details emerge in death of Beaufort Co. 3-year-old; Case sent to grand jury

BEAUFORT, S.C. (WTOC) - WTOC is learning more about the case involving the death of a three-year-old boy in Beaufort County.

The boy’s father, Demetrius Moultrie, is charged with his death and appeared before a judge on Friday for a preliminary hearing.

This case dates all the way back to July, when deputies were alerted to a suspicious death of a child at Beaufort Memorial.

Now the father is charged in the case, and in this hearing, we learned that the child died of critical dehydration and had signs of bruising on his body..

“Suffered trauma to his head, buttocks, and upper leg. Who then placed him in additional harm when he took him to work and failed to provide adequate care as food and water,” Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Investigator, Jennifer Mihiylov said.

After the boy’s death, investigators spoke with Moultrie.

He told them that he got custody of his son the day prior and took him to work with him in a work truck with no A/C, where he added that his son had been eating and drinking throughout the day.

He then told investigators that when they got home, his son fell off the back steps.

“States that he checked after the fall,” Mihiylov said. “He later found him unresponsive in his bedroom.”

Investigators say this story didn’t match up with what they ended up finding.

They say there was no proof of a fall, the boy was cold to the touch, meaning he could have been dead for several hours, and in photos and videos from the boy’s mother, he looked healthy.

Moultrie’s attorney questioned that.

“Are there any other bruises that you exclude from my client because they are in a photograph that you have seen before?” Moultrie’s attorney, James Brown Jr., questioned.

The investigator answered by saying the only visible bruise from the photos was one above his eye that was a month old.

He also questioned about the final autopsy, which is still pending, and asked why no one took the boy’s body temperature when he arrived at the hospital.

Following the hearing, the judge said there was probable cause to send to a grand jury.