WORCESTER - The senseless death of a well-mannered, 7-year-old boy after days of abuse - allegedly ending with a horrific beating by his dad on Father’s Day - has relatives asking why the child was pulled from his loving grandma and placed with the man now charged with the heinous attacks.
“I have some questions. If the judge knew his history, why did he grant him custody?” said Williedell Oliver, the great-grandmother of Nathaniel Turner, who died in a Worcester hospital yesterday after at least a week of brutal assaults.
Family members said they didn’t know how the boy’s father, Leslie G. Schuler, got summer custody of Nathaniel, a boy whom he had never even introduced to his sister. Records in the case have been sealed, although it’s known that Schuler paid child support for at least three years
Schuler, 36, has four entries on his criminal record in Massachusetts, including assault charges in 2001 and 2006.
Schuler was charged yesterday with multiple counts of assault and battery and assault with intent to murder, and his live-in girlfriend, Tiffany Hyman, 28, was charged with two counts of assault for allegedly not stopping the attacks.
About three hours after the couple’s court appearance, Nathaniel was taken off life support. The case is now a murder investigation, said a district attorney spokesman.
The final blows came on Father’s Day - a month after the boy moved from his grandmother’s home in Alabama to his dad’s place in Worcester, prosecutors said. Schuler confessed to police that little Nathaniel became unresponsive and vomited after the Sunday beating. Police said the boy had bruises on his body, stomach, head, neck and face.
Schuler and Hyman brought the unconscious Nathaniel to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester Monday morning, and were arrested that afternoon. Schuler was held on $250,000 cash bail and Hyman on $50,000.
Nathaniel was removed from life support some five hours before his grandmother, Christine “Chrissy” Taylor, could get to Massachusetts from the small Alabama town where she had lovingly reared the boy since he was a baby.
“She’s had him all his life,” said Taylor’s aunt, Gardeen Carter, 66, who lives in Brewton, Ala. “She’s the mama.”
Carter said that Schuler took Taylor to court to get visitation over the summer, but Nathaniel wasn’t happy about it.
“She said he didn’t want to leave Alabama,” she said.
Williedell Oliver, the boy’s great-grandmother, said a judge allowed Schuler to have custody of Nathaniel until the start of school.
It’s unclear why Nathaniel’s mother, Alicia Turner, of Worcester did not have custody of her son. She could not be reached.
Turner, who was at her son’s side yesterday before he died, saw him during visits in Massachusetts and Alabama, but her mother was the child’s guardian.
Schuler’s sister, Beatrice S. Bissonette of New Hampshire, said she knew her brother had a son, but never met him. She also said she never knew her brother to be violent. “I can’t imagine this. I just can’t,” she said, adding that her brother grew up in Vermont.
“I have some questions. If the judge knew his history, why did he grant him custody?” said Williedell Oliver, the great-grandmother of Nathaniel Turner, who died in a Worcester hospital yesterday after at least a week of brutal assaults.
Family members said they didn’t know how the boy’s father, Leslie G. Schuler, got summer custody of Nathaniel, a boy whom he had never even introduced to his sister. Records in the case have been sealed, although it’s known that Schuler paid child support for at least three years
Schuler, 36, has four entries on his criminal record in Massachusetts, including assault charges in 2001 and 2006.
Schuler was charged yesterday with multiple counts of assault and battery and assault with intent to murder, and his live-in girlfriend, Tiffany Hyman, 28, was charged with two counts of assault for allegedly not stopping the attacks.
About three hours after the couple’s court appearance, Nathaniel was taken off life support. The case is now a murder investigation, said a district attorney spokesman.
The final blows came on Father’s Day - a month after the boy moved from his grandmother’s home in Alabama to his dad’s place in Worcester, prosecutors said. Schuler confessed to police that little Nathaniel became unresponsive and vomited after the Sunday beating. Police said the boy had bruises on his body, stomach, head, neck and face.
Schuler and Hyman brought the unconscious Nathaniel to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester Monday morning, and were arrested that afternoon. Schuler was held on $250,000 cash bail and Hyman on $50,000.
Nathaniel was removed from life support some five hours before his grandmother, Christine “Chrissy” Taylor, could get to Massachusetts from the small Alabama town where she had lovingly reared the boy since he was a baby.
“She’s had him all his life,” said Taylor’s aunt, Gardeen Carter, 66, who lives in Brewton, Ala. “She’s the mama.”
Carter said that Schuler took Taylor to court to get visitation over the summer, but Nathaniel wasn’t happy about it.
“She said he didn’t want to leave Alabama,” she said.
Williedell Oliver, the boy’s great-grandmother, said a judge allowed Schuler to have custody of Nathaniel until the start of school.
It’s unclear why Nathaniel’s mother, Alicia Turner, of Worcester did not have custody of her son. She could not be reached.
Turner, who was at her son’s side yesterday before he died, saw him during visits in Massachusetts and Alabama, but her mother was the child’s guardian.
Schuler’s sister, Beatrice S. Bissonette of New Hampshire, said she knew her brother had a son, but never met him. She also said she never knew her brother to be violent. “I can’t imagine this. I just can’t,” she said, adding that her brother grew up in Vermont.
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