Days after police identified the dismembered remains found in Garfield Park Lagoon as those of two-year-old Kyrian Knox, the toddler’s grandmother pleaded with the public to help find the person responsible for her grandson’s gruesome death.
“I don’t know if he was deceased already when they cut my grandbaby up, but it’s a crime scene somewhere,” Camesha Harris told media during a Thursday, Nov. 5 press conference.
Knox’s body parts were found in September, the same month his family reported him missing. Law enforcement officials, however, believe the toddler went missing in August and that family members waited weeks to report his disappearance to authorities.
Knox’s mother, Lanisha Knox, had gone to Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a high school friend. She had just obtained a job in the state and was there for training. She committed Knox to the care of her friend’s father, who also lives in Rockford, according to those close to the case.
Chicago police are cooperating with Rockford police to determine who may have been responsible for the boy’s death and how it happened, said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
“It is a high priority for Chicago police to determine how Kyrian died and hold the people responsible accountable,” he said.
Rev. Ira Acree, pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin, told the Chicago Tribune that he hopes justice is served for Knox’s tragic death.
“One thing we all do know is that this child under no circumstances should have ever experienced anything like this,” he said. “This child should have never met this fate. His life’s end was unconscionable and barbaric because of how his body ended up mutilated. I’m hoping the person behind this crime gets arrested, convicted and punished with the most severe penalties.”
“Somebody had to see them,” Harris said. “Somebody had to see something. Please call the Chicago Police Department.”
