A mother and her boyfriend savagely beat her three-year-old son for wetting his pants – then casually ordered pizza and watched a movie as the boy slowly died.
Little Noah Fake struggled for breath for hours after being battered about the head by Robin Greinke, 26, and her boyfriend Steven Neil, 33, after he urinated on himself, according to police in Orlando, Florida. The beating lasted for more than an hour, and when the couple were finished they called out for a pizza and put on a DVD, said detective Chris Dillon of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
His mother, who has been charged with first-degree murder, is on suicide watch at Orange County Jail. According to an arrest affidavit, she told investigators she saw her boyfriend kick Noah, pick him up by the waistband of his trousers and slam him again and again into the living room floor. She told deputies she helped Neil beat up her son because he had wetted his pants. Greinke said she kicked Noah, pinched him on his cheeks and poked him in the chest.
‘He urinated in his pants and on top of a little alcohol used by both of them, and the possibility of some pills, they ended up beating their son to death.’ Greinke did not seek help for her son until the early hours of the following morning, calling 911 and telling operators he was wheezing and could not breathe. An ambulance crew tried to resuscitate him with CPR before taking him to Dr Phillips Hospital, Orlando, where he was pronounced dead.
At first medics thought Noah had contracted meningitis, but a post mortem conducted by the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner’s office revealed he died from blunt-force trauma to the head. The couple initially told investigators Noah had sustained the injuries from a playground fall and jumping around in the living room, according to the affidavit. Greinke told detectives that she wanted to call for help earlier but that Neil had persuaded her to wait until the morning. Detective Dillon said: ‘The mother made a full confession about how they beat the baby. She was very apologetic but it’s too late now because he’s gone.’
Greinke and Neil were both charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect and face a potential death sentence if convicted. Florida’s Department of Children and Families said they had no previous dealings with the couple, who used to live in West Palm Beach and were visiting the state from Illinois. Noah was the only child in the Orlando flat at the time, police said. Neil is reported to have a child about the same age as Noah with another woman.
Court records in Palm Beach County show his former wife sought a restraining order against him three years ago for repeated domestic violence. He has also faced drink-driving charges in Illinois. Dillon said investigators were shocked at the brutality of the case. He said: ‘They’re going to jail and hopefully they won’t ever get out.’
