A 7-year-old boy with autism and ADHD, William Evans Ellis, was tortured for weeks and then found dead, bound with duct tape in a closet, and his mother along with her two partners are now in custody on murder charges, according to Cincinnati police.
The three adults—Caitlin Evans, 27, Niesa Kenny, 33, and Kirby Rankin, 31—were arrested Thursday after a woman walked into a Mercy Health emergency room barefoot and claimed her partner was trying to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 her and had taken her son.
When officers responded to the duplex on Madison Road in the Oakley neighborhood, they discovered William’s body in a closet on the third floor. He had been dead for at least a day, the Hamilton County coroner said.
“Seeing the crumpled little body in the back of the closet was just really hard,” said Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, the coroner, who was on the scene.
The preliminary autopsy revealed blunt force trauma to the head, causing bleeding and swelling of the brain. Additional evidence points to water torture, burn torture, and the child being bound with duct tape in positions that immobilized him.
A Cincinnati police detective testified in court that the torture had been ongoing for weeks. “For the lack of a better term, some water torture involved. We believe the victim was choked underwater, held underwater for a prolonged period of time.
There was some burn torture involved. And the victim was bound with duct tape in positions that immobilized him,” the detective said.
William’s mother, Caitlin Evans, her partner Niesa Kenny, and Kirby Rankin were all charged with murder and child endangering. They are being held on a $1.1 million bond each.
The three adults had been living together in a polyamorous relationship, described as “co-parenting” William. The boy’s biological father, who is a trans woman and married to Caitlin Evans, spoke in court, saying, “They kept him from me for months based on lies.”
The coroner described the scene inside the home as deeply contradictory. In one room, there was a playroom filled with Legos and toys, like a little boy’s dream. “It looked like he was an indulged little boy,” Dr.
Sammarco said. Yet in the same home, the child was found dead.
Neighbors across the street said they had no idea a child even lived there. The downstairs neighbor posted a sign on the front door asking not to be disturbed.
The investigation has also uncovered a prior incident in January 2026 at a Jungle Jim’s grocery store parking lot. Kirby Rankin was charged with assaulting a woman, punching her in the face, and pulling a gun. William was present during that assault.
The victim’s husband, Lance Bunnell, said his wife was attacked after a minor parking lot interaction. “He shoved her violently, tore her meniscus, then hit her in the face. Then he pulled out a gun and loaded a round,” Bunnell said.
Rankin pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts in that case and was set to be sentenced in September. The Bunnells are furious, believing Rankin should have been charged with felonies, which might have prevented William from being around her.
In court, the detective described the case as the worst he had seen in 20 years. The coroner said she had not seen such a horrific child 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 case since the Marcus Fisel case 20 years ago.
William’s family is grieving. His paternal grandmother wrote on Facebook, “William Ellis, my grandson, was brutally murdered. Please do not fund his murderer.
Prayers are greatly appreciated.” A GoFundMe organized by William’s maternal aunt described him as “a beloved little boy whose life was taken far too soon.”
The three defendants appeared in court Friday wearing white suits, their clothes seized as evidence. They were booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center and are being held pending a grand jury.
The case has sparked outrage and calls for the death penalty. Former prosecutor Mark Weaver said, “This is a death penalty-eligible case because it involves the torture of a child. All three of these people need to be convicted for either what they did or what they stood by and allowed to happen.”
The investigation continues. Toxicology results are pending, and detectives are working to determine who inflicted the fatal injuries. The coroner’s office is conducting further testing on the child’s lungs and bruising.
William Evans Ellis was 7 years old. He loved Legos and painting. He was autistic and had ADHD.
He was a little boy who should have been safe in his home. Instead, police say, he was tortured to death by the very people who were supposed to protect him.