Tragic Loss: Father Arrested for 5-Month Torture Leading to 5-Year-Old’s Death While Girlfriend Silent

Insets: Michael Horn and Alexiss Eitrem (Cobb County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The 400 block of Ramona Street where Horn’s 5-year-old son was allegedly beaten to death (Google Maps).

Michael Horn, a 31-year-old Georgia resident, faces charges of aggravated assault and five counts of child cruelty. His girlfriend, Alexiss Eitrem, also 31, has been charged with five counts of child cruelty, allegedly for failing to intervene in the abuse.

The grim situation came to light when officers from the Marietta Police Department responded to a distress call on a Sunday. At a residence on the 400 block of Ramona Street, they found a 5-year-old boy unresponsive and displaying clear signs of trauma indicative of abuse. Despite being rushed to the hospital, the child succumbed to his injuries by Wednesday.

Marietta Police Officer Chuck McPhilamy expressed the harrowing nature of the case, telling the local Fox affiliate WAGA, “This 5-year-old who is now deceased had visible injuries that didn’t seem right.” The case has left the community and authorities grappling with the tragic loss and the disturbing circumstances surrounding it.

“This 5-year-old who is now deceased had visible injuries that didn’t seem right,” Marietta Police Officer Chuck McPhilamy told local Fox affiliate WAGA.

According to a warrant obtained by the TV station, Horn “inflicted blunt force trauma” on the boy that led to internal bleeding, including on the brain. A warrant for Eitrem reportedly states she “knowingly allowed repeated beatings and torture of the five-year-old victim by his biological father over the course of approximately five months.”

Cops say the abuse occurred in front of the couple’s other four children. The warrant did not contain information about what led up to the alleged abuse.

Horn and Eitrem were arrested on Monday and remain in the Cobb County Jail without bond.

A neighbor told WAGA her daughter is friends with one of the kids that live in the home.

“I got chills all over my body,” Shirley Jones told the outlet. “She said that was her best friend. My heart goes out. I mean, it’s a child. I don’t know what else to say, but God be with him.”