A Penn Hills woman is charged with assaulting her 3-year-old son, who later died at UPMC Children’s Hospital. Doctors there said the boy had 11 fractures, some of which were healing, according to court papers.
Lagomau Malu, 26, was awaiting arraignment Thursday on charges of aggravated assault, child endangerment and reckless endangerment. She was not charged with homicide.
Devin Goodson was found unresponsive at his home Wednesday and died at UPMC Children’s, according to Allegheny County Police. Investigators were waiting for the results of an autopsy.
Malu told Allegheny County Police detectives that she called 911 from her Dorothy Drive home at 12:45 p.m. after finding Devin unresponsive. Hospital doctors told authorities Devin had nine fractures that were healing and two more that had happened recently in addition to a dislocated right arm, according to court papers.
Those broken bones were all over the boy’s body, police said — right arm and both feet, hands and collarbones. Two more recent fractures were on his nose and left hand.
“These fractures are indicative of a significant level of violence and create significant concern that his death was due to physical abuse,” doctors told police according to court papers.
Malu told police she regularly hit the boy with her hands and wooden drumsticks.
Her boyfriend, Adam C. Chirico, 32, of Penn Hills told investigators he was aware of the abuse and didn’t seek medical attention for the boy, according to court papers. He reported seeing Malu on Tuesday holding the boy down on the floor with her knees on his chest.
After Devin was found unresponsive Wednesday, Chirico told police he asked Malu to delay calling 911 so he and another boy could leave before any first responders got there, according to court papers.
Chirico had not been arraigned on charges of child endangerment and reckless endangerment. He and Malu have been in a relationship since 2021, police said.
Neither suspect had an attorney listed in online court records.
Devin would have turned 4 on Wednesday.