MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – After a Myakka City boy died from child abuse in Indiana, Florida many are asking if there were warning signs.
Florida Florida manatee County sheriff’s deputies were very aware of the boy’s family and officials say they did everything they could to help the boy.
Authorities say last week 12-year-old Eduardo Posso died a cruel death at the hands of his parents.
Detectives say his parents frequently starved Eduardo and shackled him with chains and a shock collar in the bathroom as punishment.
Luis Posso, 32, and Dayana Flores, 25, now face felony charges in the wake of his death. The family is from Myakka City, and the Florida Florida manatee County Sheriff’s Office investigated them five separate times dating back to March 2017.
“In each case, investigators went in and looked at what some claims were and they found no signs of neglect or no signs of abuse,” said MCSO spokesman Randy Warren.
Warren said there were five different investigators on the case and the family also had legitimate excuses for each of the calls. He pointed out the family is made up of circus performers.
“He had a black eye in one of these incidents and he was able to explain that he’d been doing some juggling,” explained Warren.
Deputies took a picture of Eduardo on Dec. 3, 2018. He seemed happy and healthy. Days later, he and his family left the state.
“It’s very evident that what happened to Eduardo had happened to him during the last couple of weeks or months, but we didn’t see any signs of that when we did investigations,” said MCSO spokesman Randy Warren.
In Myakka City, some could’ve never imagined that this couple would be accused of such a crime.
“His parents seemed great, they seemed nice, down to earth, hard-working people,” said childcare provider Jessica Nelson. “He was just a great all around kid….could not ask for a better child.”
Up until last summer, Eduardo went to after school care at the Myakka City Community Center.
“He got along with everybody. Everybody wanted to be his friend,” said Nelson. “If he seen somebody that needed help, he helped them whether it would be with something with homework, or a game, he just helped everybody.”
The community is in mourning and wishing they could’ve done more to help him.
A vigil will be held for Eduardo this Sunday at 5 pm at the Myakka Family Worship Center at 33410 Singletary Rd.
The public is welcome to attend.
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