Crime11 August, 20263 min read
Hamilton County Coroner Says William Michael Evans-Ellis Died From Head Trauma After Duct-Taped Closet Find
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William Evans-Ellis died from blunt force trauma to the head. He was found bound with duct tape in a bedroom closet during a homicide investigation.
Cause of Death Announced
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco announced Tuesday that 7-year-old William Michael Evans-Ellis died from blunt force trauma to the head after his body was found duct-taped in a closet in an Oakley apartment.
Sammarco said the home was filled with toys and that she had to walk through a room full of LEGOS to reach the bedroom where William was found, and she described the moment she opened the closet door as “[I] opened the closet door, and just froze for a while,”.
She said the coroner’s office was still trying to determine the possible murder weapon and was awaiting toxicology results, and she added that she thinks William had been dead for about a day by the time his body was found.
Three people who William lived with—his mother, Kaitlin Evans, her partner Kirby Rankin, and Nessa Keaney—were charged with murder and endangering children, and all three were on suicide watch at the Hamilton County jail and held on a $1.1 million bond.
In court, Cincinnati homicide detective Kyle Smith said William was severely beaten over the past two months and described the case as “probably one of the most disturbing cases of child abuse” he had ever seen during his decades on the force.
911 Call and Charges
A recording of a 911 call described what led police to find William’s body in the closet, after a woman who said she was the boy’s mother walked barefoot into the emergency room at Mercy Health Rookwood in Norwood and lay on the floor Thursday afternoon.
The hospital supervisor told the dispatcher she didn’t know if the woman was in danger or having a psychiatric emergency, and the woman repeatedly claimed someone tried to kill her and kidnapped her son, identifying her partner as Kirby Rankin.
In the same case, police said Rankin was free on bond at the time of William’s death after a recent conviction for a violent attack in a grocery store parking lot, and the incident report said Rankin pushed Amy Bunnell, punched her in the face, and threatened to shoot her while brandishing a firearm.
Bunnell recalled the moment Rankin threatened her, saying, “Literally within five seconds, he said he was going to shoot me. He was just violently angry, just vicious.”
The coroner’s office said it was still investigating, and the case was set to move through the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office and the Cincinnati Police Department once the coroner’s report was completed.
Similar Case and Next Steps
Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco said Tuesday that the case felt “so similar” to the death of Marcus Fiesel, which she said rocked the Greater Cincinnati area and changed the fabric of foster care 20 years ago.
Sammarco said it was apparent when she arrived at the home that Evans had suffered a head injury, and she said he was found in a bedroom closet, bound so that he could not move, while she also said his mouth was not taped.
She described the injuries as including an arm fracture and multiple bruises “that were too numerous to count, and of various ages,” and she said her office believes Evans was dead for at least a day before he was discovered.
The investigation also included a newly released 911 call made on Aug. 6 by a nurse at Mercy Health Rookwood, in which the nurse said, “We have somebody that came in and kind of just dropped herself on the floor,” and described the woman as barefoot and claiming her partner was trying to kill her.
The coroner said her office was still waiting on toxicology and DNA tests, and she said the charges follow a conviction Rankin received months ago for assaulting a woman in the Fairfield Jungle Jim’s parking lot in January.