A mother and her two transgender partners have been indicted on charges including aggravated murder in the death of her seven-year-old son in Cincinnati, Ohio. The child, William Michael Evans-Ellis, was found dead on August 6, with the Hamilton County Coroner's office determining the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators also suspect the boy may have been sexually assaulted.
Prosecutors stated that the boy suffered numerous injuries, including severe bruising, a broken bone, and signs of waterboarding and burns. Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich described the suspects' parenting as a "miserable failure" and called their alleged actions "atrocious." She vowed to seek the maximum penalty, which could include life imprisonment without parole.
The indictment charges Kaitlin Evans, 38, Nessa Keaney, 23, and Kirby Rankin, 33, with 13 felony counts. These include aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, felonious assault, child endangerment, and conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and kidnapping. The suspects are each being held on $1.1 million bonds.
Court records indicate that Keaney and Rankin are biologically male, with their birth names, Adamhnan Judaydon Caoilte Lugh Keaney and Nathan Rankin respectively, listed on the indictment. Kaitlin Evans is the boy's biological mother. The trio is accused of torturing the child to death over a period before his death, which is believed to have occurred at least a day prior to him being found.
An attorney for Kaitlin Evans has asserted that she did not cause her son's death and suggested another suspect was responsible. However, the attorney also acknowledged her client's failure to save her son and requested a lower bond.
Reports also indicate that the child's father, Tara Ellis, is transgender and had begun a polyamorous relationship with Evans, Keaney, and Rankin. Tara Ellis has stated she moved out of the shared home prior to the child's death and is not suspected of any wrongdoing. She last saw her son in December 2025, nine months before his death, and expressed deep sorrow in court, saying, "Willie was my life. I trusted you to care for him. They kept him from me for the past nine months over lies."