HORROR END
Giovanni ‘Chulo’ Jennings’ final days revealed after boy, 6, was ‘tortured by mom and boyfriend’ who reveled in his pain
Prosecutors described the horror of the evidence they were handed by cops
THE tragic final days of a six-year-old who died after allegedly suffering abuse from his mother and her boyfriend have been revealed by his younger brother.
Giovanni 'Chulo' Jennings from Madison Heights, Michigan, died last month after a brutal assault left him with a ruptured bowel after months of abuse.
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The child had been regularly beaten, shot with a BB gun, and had been stapled to the wall of his trailer before his death, prosecutors have alleged.
The 25-year-old mother and her partner allegedly enjoyed watching camera footage of Chulo attempting to escape the pen, known as "the corner" in which he had been forced to live.
This is where the child allegedly slept on a three-foot by 11-inch wooden plank.
The pair would reportedly watch as Chulo attempted to escape, urinate, or drink while stuck in the tiny pen.
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He also got no sunlight as a black curtain had been fitted to the structure.
HORROR DETAILS
His four-year-old brother has been speaking to investigators about the substantial abuse Chulo reportedly endured at the hands of his mother, Elaina Jennings, and her boyfriend, Daniel Giacchina.
"Chulo died all day and Danny was there," Chulo's younger brother told cops after the couple tried to blame his death on his birth father.
Chulo's brother also told investigators that Giacchina had previously shot him and his brother with a BB gun.
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"He told them 'Danny shot him in the leg with a BB gun' and showed him the wound," Madison Heights Police Chief Brent LeMerise told reporters, per the Daily Mail.
"He told the interviewer, 'Danny shot Chulo in the buttocks.'"
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"An autopsy revealed Chulo had bruising and lacerations on his entire body, including his scalp, temples, lips, inner mouth, cheeks, forehead, chin, shoulder, forearms, fingers, thumbs, back, buttocks, inner thighs, knees, and shins," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald told a press conference.
"As we sifted through the evidence, what we found can only be described as horrific."
She added that the child had been "beaten by Giacchina on multiple occasions" and that while Jennings' mother was sometimes at work when this took place, she "was aware of it and approved of the physical assaults."
Jennings "at times even encouraged him to abuse Chulo," the prosecutor claimed.
In the days leading to his death, Giacchina allegedly launched a brutal attack on Chulo for "looking out the window in the pen area," McDonald said.
Giovanni 'Chulo' Jennings Death - Case Overview
Victim: Giovanni 'Chulo' Jennings, 6.
Cause of death: Blunt force trauma to his abdomen and a perforated bowel "after a lengthy period of confinement and abuse."
When and where: July 31, 2024, at home in Madison Heights, Michigan.
Suspects: Mother Elaina Jennings, 25, and boyfriend Daniel Giacchina, 32.
Alleged Events: Chulo was regularly beaten, shot with a BB gun, stapled to the wall, and forced to live in a pen without sunlight. His mother and her boyfriend allegedly enjoyed watching surveillance of the boy trying to escape drink, urinate, and escape.
Charges: One count each of first-degree murder, child abuse, and lying to a police officer. Giacchina was also charged with being a felon unlawfully in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Plea: Awaiting plea per probable cause conference on August 21
Possible Sentence: Up to life in prison
The punishment saw Chulo have his head pushed into the corner of the pen and being stapled in his clothes, face-first to the wall.
The 32-year-old then allegedly sent Jennings a picture saying he had "solved the problem."
After Chulo's death, she told cops that her partner had repeatedly punched her eldest son multiple times in the stomach three days before he succumbed to his injuries.
This caused the child to vomit, and his condition got gradually worse.
Jennings called 911 at 2:35 pm on July 30 once Chulo was no longer breathing.
Chulo died all day and Danny was there.
Giovanni 'Chulo' Jennings' younger brother
Jennings would not take her "badly injured" child to the emergency room for treatment "because she knew that a medical examination would reveal the abuse," McDonald claimed.
Chulo was taken to the nearest hospital by first responders and quickly transferred to the Children's Hospital of Michigan Stilson Specialty Center.
However, he died at midnight on July 31 from blunt force trauma to his abdomen and a perforated bowel "after a lengthy period of confinement and abuse," the autopsy concluded.
'UNIMAGINABLE ABUSE'
Prosecutors revealed that cops then searched the trailer where the couple lived with three children.
A staple gun, a BB gun, a 9mm ghost gun, and bullet holes in the wall were discovered by cops, McDonald said.
Photographs from the home showed two of the children playing with a gun, pointing it at a third as their stepfather looked on.
The child's mother and stepfather have each been charged with one count of first-degree murder, child abuse, and lying to a police officer.
Giacchina has also been charged with being a felon unlawfully in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Both adults have been denied bail and are being held at the Oakland County Jail before a probable cause hearing on August 21.
McDonald has vowed to "hold the people responsible for this death accountable, and to seek punishment that reflects the horror of his death."
"This child and his siblings suffered unimaginable abuse and lived in fear every day," she said.
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If convicted, Jennings and Giacchina could get life in prison.
Chulo's birth father has been ruled out of the investigation, cops have confirmed.
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