Overview
- Autopsy findings reported Sunday and Monday described a gel-like substance and white fragments in the child’s colon that matched diaper material and drywall or paint chips.
- Police say the parents last saw 2-year-old Erik Reichard alive around 11 p.m. and waited roughly 14 hours to call 911 on March 31 after finding him unresponsive.
- Investigators documented feces on children’s bedroom floors, diaper pieces, drywall debris, insects, and a training toilet left unclean for days, contrasted with a tidy parents’ room.
- A detective wrote that Erik appeared blue and pale and likely had been dead for several hours, and records note he weighed about 15 pounds with numerous sores or possible bug bites.
- Reichard’s parents, Trevor Reichard-Hayes and Katherine Carter, were arrested April 3 on murder and multiple neglect counts, two siblings were removed by child services, and one was hospitalized for severe malnutrition and dehydration.