OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Over two years after a 6-year-old boy was found dead in an Osceola County hotel, his father has been formally charged by a grand jury.
On Wednesday, Larry Rhodes, 25, was indicted on first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse and four counts of child abuse in his son’s death and the abuse of his other children, according to a news release from the state attorney’s office.
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On July 5, 2022, deputies responded to a Knights Inn in Kissimmee after reports came in about a drowning, with call notes indicating someone’s head was in a toilet.
The child later died at the hospital. Investigators determined the boy died from injuries sustained from child abuse and found evidence other children in the hotel room suffered from physical abuse and neglect.
During a news briefing, Sheriff Marcos Lopez called the case “one of the worst child abuse cases in the history of Osceola County, any of us up here have ever seen.”
Rhodes’ girlfriend, Bianca Blaise, was also arrested in connection with the death of the 6-year-old and the abuse of five others. At last check, Blaise is still in custody and faces charges.
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