MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man has been arrested and charged for the death of this son.
Terry Patterson, 47, told police he found his 3-year-old son, Josiah, unresponsive on the couch at his home in the 1200 block of Evergreen Street.
The boy was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The Shelby County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was due to blunt force trauma.
Police investigated the case and came to the conclusion that Patterson, the father, was responsible.
He is charged with aggravated child abuse, first-degree murder and murder in perpetration of a felony.
Josiah’s mother, Kerra Brown, started a GoFundMe page to raise money for her son’s burial.
She said she had been in the middle of a nasty custody battle with Patterson. The courts recently granted the father with a week of temporary custody.
“I know the system failed. The system failed period,” a family member said.
“If I could have went back and got my son, I would have went back and got my son,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t have to be lighting candles talking about miss Jo Jo.”
Family members said previous abuse and threats were reported to police, but neither officers nor child services ever followed up.
Now, the mother is in tears after losing her baby boy.
“He was the life of the party,” Brown said. “He was everybody’s angel.”
