Black man arrested after White girlfriend’s toddler found dead inside a canvas bag
DECEMBER 29, 2023JUSTICE REPORTOil City, Pennsylvania – A missing White 2-year-old boy was found dead inside of a canvas bag on Wednesday. For the crime, Police arrested a Black man as well as the young victim’s White mother for failing to disclose previous instances of child torture to the authorities.
According to reports, the lifeless body of 2-year-old Keaton Morrison was discovered inside the basement of an Oil City residence, stuffed inside of a canvas bag. The boy’s mother, 22-year-old Caleigh Gladfelter, reported the boy missing and told authorities she hadn’t seen her young son since Monday when he was in the care of her boyfriend, 24-year-old Trevaughn Stribling-Jackson.
24-year-old Trevaughn Stribling-Jackson (left), 22-year-old Caleigh Gladfelter (middle), and 2-year-old Keaton Morrison (right). Gladfelter and Stribling-Jackson were engaged in a romantic relationship that Police believe was rife with domestic violence aimed at her White children. Collage: Facebook.
Stribling-Jackson—who is Black—told Gladfelter that her young son was suddenly staying with relatives elsewhere in the state. But when she discovered traces of blood inside the home, she grew suspicious and contacted the police. She later told investigators that Stribling-Jackson was responsible for several assaults against her children in the past, but he would downplay bruises and other injuries they sustained as the kids merely “falling down the stairs.”
A criminal complaint reviewed by WTAE stated that young Morrison was found hidden away in the basement. When he was removed from the bag, authorities noticed he had suffered injuries to the face and head, as well as a burn to the child’s groin. An official cause of death has yet to be determined.
For the horrific death of a toddler, Stribling-Jackson now faces charges of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, concealment of the whereabouts of a child, and abuse of a corpse. For failing to disclose a history of child abuse occurring inside the home, Gladfelter was also arrested and charged with child endangerment.
Both adults involved in the death of Keaton Morrison are currently being held at the Venango County Jail.
In a request for comment by Pittsburgh’s Action News 4, the people who live at the home where Morrison was found dead were “shocked” and “upset” by what happened. They claimed that Stribling-Jackson and Gladfelter had been staying in the home as guests when the homicide took place.
Keaton Morrison (Left) and family (right). For failing to disclose tortures inflicted by her black boyfriend, Caleigh Gladfelter was arrested and faces charges of child neglect. Collage: Facebook.
Meanwhile, users on the social media platform Facebook have come out to offer condolences to the extended family and express their outrage over the incident. Some have even begun to demand the death penalty for the accused and bravely call for justice on behalf of young Morrison.
“What (Morrison’s family) have endured no one should ever have to!” read a post by one upset Facebook user. “Justice for Keaton will prevail! This is where I believe we need capital punishment, unfortunately, monsters aren’t under our beds. They walk beside us!”
Morrison’s father, Brandon Morrison, also took to Facebook to make a series of heartfelt posts on behalf of his murdered son. When it came to Stribling-Jackson and Gladfelter’s alleged involvement in his son’s death, he defiantly stated that he wished both would “Rot in hell.”
“Hold onto your loved ones tight! Especially during this time of year! You never think it could happen to you until it does,” said Brandon Morrison. “This is a pain I cannot describe nor explain, I wouldn’t wish this on anybody. I thank (you) for all the prayers. God knows I need them! I will always love you, Keaton Allen Morrison.”
“I’m truly sick to hear the police report. My baby didn’t deserve that. May you both rot in hell!” he continued.
A candlelight vigil in honor of Keaton Morrison is scheduled for Saturday, September 30th, at the Fulton County Courthouse. A GoFundMe has been set up to assist the family during this time and help pay for the cost of a funeral. At the time of press, it had raised $7,950 of its $15,000 goal.
The horrific murder of 2-year-old Keaton Morrison—who was White—represents the unfortunate consequences of many interracial relationships in the United States. According to research cited by the National Library of Medicine, Interracial couples represented as many as 17.9% of reported domestic abuse cases. Interracial couples were also 1.5 times more likely to mutually assault each other than “ethnic minority” couples and twice as likely as White couples to experience a mutual assault.
Interracial couples were also far less likely to report an arrest, prior abuse, as well as injuries sustained as a result of domestic violence. Because this data was only obtained after compiling official police reports of interracial domestic abuse, researchers believe the astronomically high number is likely even higher.
Abhorrent acts of violence stemming from the cohabitation of Whites and Blacks have become a common occurrence in an increasingly mixed society, with White children often suffering the worst of all. In May of 2022, a Black couple was found guilty for the brutal 2021 beating death of their White, 3-year-old foster child. Charged with “homicide by child abuse,” 29-year-old Ariel Robinson and her husband, 34-year-old Jerry Robinson of Simpsonville, South Carolina, were convicted of life imprisonment for inflicting a “series of blunt force injuries” which resulted in the murder of White 3-year-old Victoria Smith.
That murder is just a drop in the bucket of similar instances of Black-on-white cruelty. In May, a 15-year-old White girl was found dead after police say her 29-year-old Black sex-offender boyfriend smothered her with a pillow and left her for dead inside an apartment complex dumpster. In January, a 16-year-old White girl was shot in the head after police say she refused to pick up a bag of marijuana off the floor for an 18-year-old Black man she may have been sleeping with.
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