A 5-year-old boy was beaten and killed after his mother’s boyfriend stopped his car and pulled him out to punish him for his “bad behaviour”. Austin Birdseye died Sunday night in Russell County, Alabama, after his mother’s partner, Bryan Starr, 35, drove his car down a road and demanded that Austin get out. The boy then headed toward nearby Route 165, where he was hit by a passing vehicle. Austin was rushed to Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital, where he later died.
Starr said he stopped the car because Austin was “being unruly” and lost sight of the boy in the dark and rain. It is not known how long Austin was out of the car before he was hit. The Russell County Sheriff’s Office is now checking local security cameras to try and confirm a timeline. Austin’s mother, Christina, was not in the car at the time of the incident, which was a few miles from the home she shares with Starr. According to the Metro, Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor told WRBL: “It’s just horrific. I can’t imagine the mother’s grief that she is going through. It’s just tough. What do you say to that? What is your thought process when you tell a five-year-old to get out of the car on a rainy night because they were loud in the car? It’s just heartbreaking.”
Although Sheriff Taylor said that no charges would be brought against the unidentified driver who struck the youngster. Starr, a US Army soldier stationed at Fort Benning who served one tour of duty to Iraq, has now been charged with reckless murder of the 5-yr-old.
A GoFundMe page here has been setup to help pay for Austin’s funeral.
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