Prosecutors in Oregon have charged a
25-year-old woman with beating her 4-year-old son to death because
she feared he was gay.
The boy, Zachary Dutro-Boggess, died in
2012, several days after being hospitalized with trauma to his
abdomen.
Prosecutors allege that Jessica Dutro was
abusive with three of her children, but Zachary bore the brunt of the
violence. Only an infant – whose father Dutro lived with –
showed no signs of abuse.
Dutro's 7-year-old daughter told
investigators that her mother and her boyfriend had beaten her
brother before he died.
Using a slur, Dutro told her boyfriend
in a Facebook message that her son was going to be gay – “He
walks and talks like it. Ugh.” – and said that he would have to
“work on” Zachary.
Dutro is charged with murder, murder by
abuse and second-degree assault, The
Oregonian reported.