A neighbor who lived near Cash Gernon, a Texas boy found deceased in a residential street earlier this month, told Dallas officials that he reported the suspect in the past but nothing ever came of it.
During a Monday night meeting with city leaders and officials, neighbors pleaded for more security from Dallas officers after a jogger found 4-year-old Cash deceased on May 15, in the Mountain Creek neighborhood of Dallas.
The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Darriyn Brown, was the same person allegedly seen checking to see if cars were locked in security footage handed over by a neighbor, who said he called police on the teen months ago.
ABC 8 reports that the neighbor shared the video with authorities, which appears to show a man who fits Brown’s description trying to open a car door that didn’t belong to him.
Brown is now accused of taking Cash from his room while the boy slept, an incident also caught on security footage.
So far, Brown has been charged with kidnapping and burglary in connection with Cash’s case. Authorities previously said they are waiting on forensics testing results before charging anyone with murder.
“When I drove from headquarters, I didn’t realize how far this would be,” Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, who attended the neighborhood meeting, said.
Garza had only been on the job four months when he responded to the neighborhood, but by then, it was too late. Cash was pronounced dead at the scene after someone stabbed him several times.
A jogger who found the boy previously said she saw ants crawling on his feet while the child lay in a pool of blood with his mouth open.
“How do we make sure that this doesn’t happen again?” a neighbor who attended the meeting asked city officials. “We called a month ago, and now a child’s dead.”
Other neighbors said they, too, had called police about Brown but never got a response. Another video reportedly showed Brown breaking a security camera at a home in the neighborhood.
Attendees said they wanted a police station closer to their neighborhood, but so far, there has been no word if the request has been taken into consideration.
Meanwhile, Brown remains behind bars on a $1.5 million bond.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Cash Gernon/Facebook]
