DAYTON — A neighbor of three people facing child endangering charges in connection to the death of a 10-year-old Dayton boy said she never saw kids over at the Kensington Drive home.
Al-Mutahan McLean, 30; Amanda Lee Hinze, 28; and Jennifer Ebert, 25; are each facing four counts of endangering children in the death of Takoda Collins, according to court records.
>> RELATED: Records: 10-year-old boy abused daily for years prior to death; 3 arrested
Interviews with the trio reveled that Collins suffered “extreme abuse” for several years, said a court affidavit and statement of facts.
Lyiah Fisher, who lives across the street from the trio, told News Center 7’s John Bedell that no one knew about the alleged abuse.
“It’s just so sad,” she said. “It’s something that’s so close and no one really even knew about it.”
She wasn’t home when police responded to McLean’s 911 call on Dec. 13 reporting that his son was unresponsive.
However, she said that people from the Animal Resource Center came and took all the dogs from the home.
Fisher added that she didn’t see people at the house and that she didn’t know that anyone lived there.
When hearing some of the accusations, including that the boy was held under water and locked in a dark attic, Fisher said it made her mad.
“He’s an innocent little boy,” she said. “He still had his whole life ahead of him...How could you even do that to some little boy? I don’t get it.”
Nobody answered the door for a Dayton Daily News reporter who visited the Kensington Drive home. The house is a one-story residence with a bump-out attic with south-facing windows. The attic window facing the street is covered with plywood.
>> RELATED: Report: Child complained about punishment from dad facing charges after 10-year-old’s death
Neighbors to the house reacted to the news with shock and horror.
“We did not know there was kid in that house at all,” said Karen Myers, who babysits her daughter’s five kids two doors down from the house.
Myers said her daughter has lived there about five months and her grandchildren, all between ages 8 and 2, would have made friends with a neighbor boy. But even in the summer, there were no kids outside.
When she learned the details about what is alleged to have happened to Takoda, Myers began to cry.
“Here it is, Christmas,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “What kid deserves that? Nobody does. No baby deserves that.”
Other neighbors say they knew kids lived there but hadn’t seen them in months. Charlie Patterson, who lives down the street, said he gave some leftover Halloween candy to several children who lived in that house shortly after Halloween.
Vincent McDade, who lives caddy-corner to the house where the boy lived, said he thought the child had moved out since he hadn’t seen him since last summer. Both McDade and Patterson said Takoda acted nervous in public.
“He was nervous around people,” McDade said. “It looked like he wanted to come up to you and talk to you, but he was scared.”
