Twenty-four-year-old Tavon Ludy was arrested Sunday after he allegedly punched his fiance's young son in the chest, killing him. Ludy has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and aggravated battery to a child.
Responding to a 911 call to 2110 Rose Knoll Lane in Glen Carbon, Illinois, deputies for the Madison County Sheriff's office arrived at the residence shared by Ludy, his fiance Toria Coleman and her two children. There they found Coleman's youngest son, 5-year-old Torian Whittaker, unresponsive. Torian was transported Anderson Hospital in Maryville, Illinois, but he could not be revived.
"It's horrific," Captain Mike Dixon says. The investigation found that Ludy regularly beat Torian and his 7-year-old brother "for what most people would consider minor issues."
Dixon tells Daily RFT that Sunday was Torian's fifth birthday.
Torian's mother, Toria M. Coleman, was aware of the Ludy's pattern of physical abuse and has been charged with endangering the life of a child. Her other son has been placed in protective custody.
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