FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The death of a 3-year-old boy in Fort Myers, Fla., after he was tightly wrapped in a blanket has led to the arrests of his three caretakers, police said.
Michael Lee McMullen was in the care of Donella Trainor, 45, Douglas Garrigus, 21, and the child's grandmother, Gale Watkins, 56, last Saturday. After he was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at a hospital, the Lee County Sheriff's Office pieced together conversations with the caretakers and determined the boy was punished for behavioral issues, CNN reported Wednesday.
Among the details that emerged was Trainor's use of a discipline measure called "the wrap," which authorities described as "willful torture."
"She would literally roll a child in a blanket and tie the ends down so as to prevent movement or escape," the sheriff's office said in a statement, adding Trainor did the "wrap" Saturday, placing the child face-down in a crib as he "screamed and pleaded" to be released.
Trainor, Garrigus and Watkins were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, and Trainor was also charged with aggravated abuse of a child, CNN said.
