Alexander Agenbroad a Mount Healthy Cincinnati 13 year old boy has been charged with the murder of his 80 year old grandfather, Fowler Agenbroad.
Alexander Agenbroad, a 13 year old Cincinnati, Ohio teen was on Tuesday charged with murder after killing his 80 year old grandfather, Fowler Agenbroad.
The formal charging of the boy comes almost eight months after the grandfather was mercilessly beaten to death inside the Mount Healthy suburban family home reported cincinnati.com.
Agenbroad had taking over custody of his grandson, who remains unidentified, years after the boy’s parents died from overdosing on heroin.
All that changed come August 5, 2016 when authorities came across the unresponsive grandfather after having endured a brutal beating to the head at the hands of his then 12 year old grandson.
Agenbroad’s sister, Hattie Howell, posted on Facebook on Aug. 6, 2016 that Agenbroad ‘had a fall that broke his spine and caused anoxic brain damage and cardiac arrest.’
At the time of the grandfather’s death, Agenbroad was charged with domestic violence before charges were upgraded to murder on Tuesday.
‘It’s never easy to deal with any homicide,’ Sgt. Nick Michael of Mount Healthy police said via wcpo. ‘When there is a young child like this involved, it makes it even harder for us, but we have to stay focused and make our decisions based on facts.’
At the time of the murder, neighbor, Steve Wagner was quoted saying that he often heard fighting and yelling from across the street.
‘The whole thing is, it was a sad situation,’ Wagner said via WLWT. ‘(The grandfather) helped out with the kid. He was always there … I mean, that’s the sad part about it, and the kid never recognized it.’
Another neighbor, Kim Hart said that Agenbroad would often blame the child’s poor behavior on his deceased father.
‘Everything the child did, the grandfather would blame his son, the child’s father — ‘You’re going to be like him,” she said.
Police records revealed officers having made many calls to the family home prior to the beating murder.
Prosecutor Joe Deters revealed Agenbroad suffered severe trauma to the head in the deadly altercation, which was the cause of death.
‘There literally was a hole in the drywall the size of the grandfather’s head,’ Deters said.
Agenbroad was a longtime deacon and attendee at the Presbyterian Church in Clifton, a parish he, the grandson and his parents were also members of.
The boy’s father, Randall Agenbroad, died in January 2016 from an overdose caused by heroin and fentanyl, records show. His mother, Lisa Agenbroad, died in March 2015 from an overdose involving heroin and fentanyl.
During Tuesday’s hearing at the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, the teen denied charges of murder and reckless homicide. He is set to appear back in court March 24.
Deters said the 13-year-old may serve jail time until he’s 21 if convicted on all charges.
Neighbors, who were aware of the toxic situation for months, believe police missed all the warning signs and opportunity to intervene.
‘They failed the grandfather. They failed the child,’ Hart said.
Alexander Agenbroad’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 24.