The autopsy has been completed on the 3-year-old boy allegedly beaten by his stepfather, according to the Carroll County coroner. But the boy’s cause of death may not be known for several weeks while the GBI awaits additional test results, Coroner Keith Hancock said.
Brentley James Gore died Sunday afternoon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where he spent six days in critical condition. Villa Rica police believe Brentley’s stepfather, Joshua Richards, beat him so severely with a belt that he had multiple skull fractures, bleeding on the brain, suffered a stroke and had seizures.
Richards, the son of Carrollton police Chief Joel Richards, was arrested on Jan. 23 when the boy’s mother called police to the family’s apartment. When Brentley died, Richards was charged with murder. He was being held without bond Thursday at the Carroll jail.
Visitation for Brentley will be held Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Martin & Hightower Funeral Home in Carrollton, according to his online obituary. The funeral will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the funeral home's chapel.
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