STRUTHERS, Ohio — A man has been arrested and charged in the slaying of his ex-girlfriend’s 13-year-old son and the boy’s mother is also facing charges.
Police said 43-year-old Zaryl Bush of Struthers was arrested Tuesday, following the weekend death of Theodore A. Foltz in St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown. Bush is charged with rape and murder and is being held on $1 million bond.
Shain Foltz Widdersheim, 32, Theodore’s mother, was charged Wednesday with child endangerment, according to media reports. Widdersheim, reportedly a graduate of Brookfield High School, and Bush dated for three years, investigators said.
Police said Foltz was driven to Akron Children’s Hospital in Boardman Jan. 21 by Widdersheim and admitted with a head injury. Two days later, a relative reported that Foltz was being abused. Detectives then began investigating.
Mahoning County Children’s Services agency took custody of Widdersheim’s twin 10-year-old sons.
Police said they have additional information outside of the coroner’s forensic report to implicate Bush in Foltz’s death. Bush was taken into custody by Struthers police and the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force.
Officers said all three children were pulled out of school by Widdersheim in October. Investigators said several incidents of child abuse during the past three years against Foltz were reported by school teachers and neighbors to police and children’s services, but no investigation was able to reveal any substantial evidence.
Investigators said they found the boy was sexually abused and recently suffered frostbite. They said they found no evidence that the 10-year-old boys were abused.
Detectives said Bush ran the home like a “boot camp,” isolating the three boys and Widdersheim from their families.
AP and media reports
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