Found Deceased OH - Martonio Wilder, mother Lashanda Wilder homicide suspect, Columbus, 27 Jun 2024

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Found Facebook pages for them:
Lashanda Wilder Log into Facebook
Johnna Lowe Facebook

It looks like they haven’t actually been together that long, though maybe they’ve known each other longer. Based on her FB description, it looks like Lashanda might have two other kids as well. Her most recent post was just 4 days ago, but I’m on mobile so can’t check the actual time and date there.
 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A mother accused of killing her 8-year-old son had her bond set at $1.5 million in court Monday.

Lashanda Wilder was charged with murder and obstruction. She also was ordered to stay from drugs and guns, as well as her family.

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The family was surprised that Wilder was given a bond but expressed relief that it was too high for anyone to pay it.

Lowe also appeared in court Monday, facing an obstruction charge. Her bond was set at $500,000 and also was ordered to stay away from drugs and firearms, as well as the family. Lowe is due back in court July 9.

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Wilder's two other boys are now in the care of Children Services.
 

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Following Monday's arraignment, relatives of the family spoke lovingly about Martonio Wilder.

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Added cousin Siea Glover: "He was really loved. People really cared about him. He was bright. He was a happy kid. He loved to sing. We all spent so much time with him ... We would go to the park, and I would just love on him. Take him to get haircuts."

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"A lot of her neighbors that live next door had seen things," Glover said. "The people she worked with seen things ... A lot of things happened that didn’t happen in front of us. A lot of things we are finding out now."

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Glover added that while they still love Latasha Wilder, they now have to "sever ties with our family, our own blood, because she has done the unthinkable."
 
JUL 1, 2024
[...]

Franklin County Children Services confirmed the agency has worked with the family for about two years.

A statement from FCCS says in part, “First, Martonio’s two brothers are safely in the care of Children Services ..."

“Second, our agency and caseworkers first began working with Martonio’s mother Lashanda Wilder and her family starting in May of 2022. A variety of services have been offered and provided to the family over the past two years, including case management,

[...]

Both Lashanda and Lowe have criminal records.

Records from the Columbus Division of Police show officers have responded to the home 13 times since January 2023: three times for disturbances, three times for domestic violence, twice for domestic disputes and once for a cutting/stabbing.

Police had most recently responded to the home on June 20 for a disturbance, eight days before Martonio was found dead.

[...]
 
JUL 2, 2024
[...]

"Please can I get a crew here," Wilder asked a 911 dispatcher. "My eight year old ran away last night. Please, please hurry up."

[...]

ABC 6 also obtained records from the Columbus Department of Public Safety outlining the number of times officers responded to incidents at Wilder's home.

Police were called to there 13 times since January 2023, according to records.

Records show just eight days before police found Martonio's body, officers were at the home responding to a disturbance.

CPD was also called to the home three times for domestic violence, twice for domestic disturbance, and for a stabbing, all within the last year and a half.

[...]
 
JUL 2, 2024
[...]

Wilder sounds distraught in her first 911 call. She said everyone in her house went to bed between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. the previous night and that they all just woke up about five minutes before she called, around noon the next day.

Wilder said the "back door is wide open" and that Martonio had run away before.

[...]

She added, "He jumped out the window before. He said he hated me."

Twenty-two minutes after the first 911 call, Wilder called 911 asking why police had not responded to her home. The dispatcher told Wilder that officers were sent to her but were responding to an unrelated high-priority call before they could get to her home.

[...]

In November, Wilder reported Martonio's older brother missing at 7:09 p.m. She said he had not been seen since got off the school bus about 3:40 p.m. that day. Police went to the home and spoke with neighbors, who said they saw the boy going to a nearby store around 6 p.m.

Another neighbor returned the boy home about 8:30 p.m. saying he had been at her house most of the afternoon.

[...]
 
JUL 5, 2024
[...]

ABC 6 reviewed the coroner's investigative notes, which detail what investigators saw when they found the boy. ABC 6 also heard the 911 call with Latasha Wilder's girlfriend, Johnna Lowe, on the other end telling dispatchers she was ready to talk to investigators and give up what she knew about the boy's death.

[...]

The coroner's report indicated that the boy was found in a cobweb-covered crawl space in the home.

[...]
 
JUL 5, 2024
Police release bodycam video of initial search for Martonio Wilder before his body was found

The video begins around 12:45 p.m. on Friday, June 28, as an officer meets an emotional LaShanda Wilder outside her home on Olmstead Avenue.
 
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING! :(:(:(

JUL 8, 2024
[...]

Records from the Franklin County Coroner’s Office revealed the attic was about 2 feet tall, and otherwise empty, filled with dust and dirt.

Court records say the coroner's office ruled Martonio's death a homicide.
Martonio’s autopsy pictures revealed visible bruises on the boy’s face around his eyes, nose and mouth, as well as lacerations and cuts on his face and back. Pictures also showed bleeding on the brain and that his body appeared abnormally thin.

[...]

"They used to get dropped off at my house when they got out of school, the bus would drop them off at my house. I would feed them, I would buy them clothes and stuff, I'm like, I'm not sending them to school like that,” Knight said.

Knight added Martonio once told her his mother put him in the closet and threw a pack of crackers in there for him to eat.

[...]
 
Columbus police officers were first called to the house, in the 1000 block of Olmstead Avenue, around noon by Wilder, court records showed. They spoke with her and Lowe, with Wilder saying she last saw Martonio on Thursday night.

Police issued a missing person’s advisory for Martonio but did not elevate it to an Amber Alert. They began a K-9 search of the neighborhood, after which Wilder and Lowe left without telling police where they were going. With them were the other two children, ages 9 and 3.
[snip]
Franklin County Children Services said it had been involved with Wilder and her family since May 2022 but did not specify how.
https://www.wdtn.com/news/childs-body-found-after-amber-alert-canceled-for-columbus-siblings/

Sounds as if Wilder was going to try to pull the old my kid is missing BS after having killed him or her associate Lowe killed him and Wilder is complicit. While LE was focused on beginning a search for Martonio she took off with the other two boys which prompted the search for them.
 
JUL 9, 2024
Court documents ABC 6 obtained from the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office show Mary Johnson has been indicted on an obstruction of justice charge. Columbus Police said Johnson is the mother of Joanna Lowe. Lowe is the girlfriend of Lashanda Wilder, the mother of Martonio.

According to 911 calls ABC6 obtained from Columbus Police, Johnson called 911 on June 28, telling police Lashanda's two other children were at her home.
 
Lowe's mother, Mary Johnson, is also facing a charge of obstructing justicerelated to Wilder's death. She is scheduled to have her first court appearance on July 22.

Both women are being held in the Franklin County jail.

Thompson set bond at $1.25 million for Lowe and ordered her to have no contact with Wilder and no unsupervised contact with minors if she is released, including her own two children.

Bond for Wilder was set at $2 million with similar conditions if she is released
 
JUL 10, 2024
[...]

In court Wednesday, the prosecution revealed that Lowe spoke with authorities the day after. They said she accused one of Wilders’ other children of murdering Martonio, saying he hit him in the neck with a rock. Records show she later admitted to that being a lie.

State prosecutor Scott Sugarman also shared allegations of abuse that go back years before the death.

[...]

In court Wednesday, Sugarman said both women also admitted to unusual punishments for Martonio. He claimed they admitted to beating Martonio with an extension cord two days before he was found in a trash bag in the attic.

[...]

Also see: Mother, girlfriend plead not guilty in death of 8-year-old Columbus boy
 
JUL 15, 2024
Lowe had contacted Columbus police to turn herself in in connection with the case.

Lowe can be heard on an officer's body camera speaking to police for the first time. She told responding officers she was all set to talk to investigators following the boy's death.

"I'm the girlfriend of Lashanda Wilder," she can be heard saying. "I'm ready to talk to the detectives."
 

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