Myakka City mourns slain 12-year-old boy. Father, stepmother face murder charges

The father and stepmother of a 12-year-old boy who used to attend Myakka Elementary School now face murder charges after Eduardo Posso died last month in Indiana.

Probable cause to charge Luis Posso, 32, and Dayana Medina-Flores, 26, with murder was found by an Indiana Circuit Court judge, according to a Facebook post from the Monroe County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Department.

Eduardo was declared dead on May 24 after his father took the severely emaciated boy to Bloomington Hospital.

Posso and Medina-Flores have been in jail in Indiana since Friday on multiple charges of neglect in connection to Eduardo’s death. With the murder charges, they are being held without bond.

Medina-Flores, from Mexico, is also being held on an ICE detainer, according to the sheriff’s department.

Eduardo and his three siblings, ages 9, 5 and 2, had been pulled out of Manatee County school in December, and were in Indiana traveling with the couple who were working as contractors, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. Posso and Flores were promoting several businesses, including a show by Manatee County-based Cirque Italia.

Eduardo previously attended Myakka City Elementary School.

Sunday night, dozens of family members and school staff gathered with nearly 100 other community members at the Myakka City Family Center on a warm evening for a vigil to remember Eduardo’s life.

Family hugged each other tightly as they found their seats and a slide show of photos of Eduardo playing soccer was displayed in the background.

Eduardo was in fifth grade teacher Joe Szewczyk’s class for just a few months before he was pulled from school.

“What I saw of Eduardo was a boy just full of life and full of love. I would see him at the cafeteria with his sister every morning. I could see the love he had for her,” Szweczyk said.

Myakka City Worship Center Pastor Lynn Howell said the family would not speak at Sunday’s vigil because they did not want to potentially jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

Howell said he had known Eduardo since 2016 when the boy he said was smiling and happy started playing soccer there. He said he was one of the people who made a report suspecting Eduardo’s abuse.

The vigil aimed to bring healing to the family, the community as well as bring awareness to a system that Howell said is broken. As his eyes filled with tears, Howell thanked the community for coming to honor the 12-year-old boy who liked to cook.

But also, asking the question how does the community make a difference?

Howell assured family and school staff they were not at fault, that they did what they could to make the necessary reports. What happened, Howell said, was not their fault. He called for changes to laws and a system he said is broken.

“Any child that has a personality like him should never have to go through what he went through,” Howell said. “It’s the way that this happened that this community is feeling some kind of responsibility because it slipped through our fingers to do something about the tragic events that happened.”

Before Eduardo’s death or arrival in Indiana, local child protective investigators were called to Eduardo’s home five times in approximately 18 months after reports of abuse from his grandmother, his school and anonymous tipsters. Investigators were most recently called to the Myakka City home in November.

Each time, investigators could not substantiate the abuse reports, saying they found no signs of neglect or abuse, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which handles child welfare cases in the county for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Though Eduardo was pictured smiling during his last visit with child protective investigators in December, neighbors told the Bradenton Herald they recalled hearing verbal abuse and watched the boy being forced to do manual labor.

After Eduardo’s death, Indiana investigators searched the Bloomington motel room where the family was staying. They found restraints, a dog’s shock collar and a web-based security system that officials believe connected to applications on the phones of Posso and Flores.

Several photos and videos showing Eduardo in the tub restrained and wearing a shock collar were also found on the couple’s phones, according to the sheriff’s department.

When he died, Eduardo’s body was covered in bruises and he had zero percent body fat.

Posso and Flores told investigators Eduardo “acted up the most” and was the one they had “issues” with, the sheriff’s department said in a previous news conference.

Posso and Flores are also facing multiple charges of felony child neglect and one count each of confinement. Posso also faces one count of domestic battery.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said a private funeral service will be held in Indiana for Eduardo before his body is returned to family.

This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 1:08 PM.