Suspect in brutal murder of 4-year-old in Dallas had allegedly tried to kidnap a 2-year-old, but homeowner refused to press charges



The suspect in the murder of a 4-year-old boy in Dallas, Texas, had been previously accused of assaulting another homeowner and trying to kidnap his 2-year-old girl, but the man had refused to press charges at the time.

The disconcerting accusations were outlined in a second arrest affidavit filed against Darriynn Brown, the 18-year-old arrested and charged in the heinous murder of Cash Gernon, who was found in a pool of his own blood by a jogger.

Brown is accused of entering a home in February and rifling through the closets before a homeowner grabbed a kitchen knife and forced him to leave. He then allegedly damaged the door in order to gain entry again, punched the homeowner in the forehead, and walked into the living room where the homeowner's 2-year-old granddaughter was sleeping.

The affidavit says that Brown picked up the girl and tried to make his way out the back door when the homeowner confronted him and wrenched his granddaughter away. Brown allegedly punched him in the face and fled the scene.

Astoundingly, the homeowner decided not to press charges at the time of the incident.

Investigators talked to the homeowner three days after Cash Gernon was found dead, and he decided to press charges at that time.

In addition to the charges of kidnapping and theft in the murder of Cash Gernon, Brown now faces two new charges of injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual, and burglary. Police say more charges are pending the results of forensic analysis.

A figure fitting Brown's description was captured on surveillance video kidnapping the child from his crib the night before he was found dead. Brown's mother told the media that her son is completely innocent and that he was framed for the crime.

The boy was in the care of his father's girlfriend at the time of his abduction and murder. The mother of Cash said that she didn't know where her children were and that the father had left the two boys with his girlfriend without notifying her about their whereabouts.

Here's a local news report about the new charges:

Accused Child Killer Darriynn Brown Faces New Charges In Cash Gernon Casewww.youtube.com

Video reportedly shows suspect abducting 4-year-old Cash Gernon from his bed, then returning for twin brother hours after murdering boy



Darriynn Brown — the 18-year-old suspect accused of brutally murdering a 4-year-old Dallas, Texas, boy — reportedly came back to the family home for the boy's twin brother just hours after kidnapping the child and committing the heinous killing.

Surveillance video captured the moment that the suspect entered the boys' bedroom and abducted 4-year-old Cash Gernon.

Authorities arrested Brown on Saturday after the child's body was discovered on a residential street in the early hours of the morning.

Brown's bond is set at $1.5 million.

What are the details?

According to a Wednesday report from the Daily Mail, surveillance footage showed the moment that Brown grabbed 4-year-old Cash and ran.

"In night vision footage, Brown creeps in dressed in a hoodie, backpack, sweatpants, and sneakers, and hovers menacingly over the two boys," the outlet reported. "He appears to hesitate for a few seconds, staring at the brothers and looking around the room, before finally reaching toward the bed and carefully pulling back the boys' blanket."

At that point, the suspect can be seen snatching Cash — who appears to awaken immediately — and running out of the room with the little boy in his arms.

Just hours later, Brown reportedly returned to the boys' bedroom for 4-year-old Carter.

The outlet said that Brown in surveillance footage can be seen "hovering menacingly over Carter Gernon as he slept in the cot he shared with his brother Cash."

Brown, however, "appears to get spooked by a sound in the house and flees, leaving Carter asleep."

"Brown, 18, reaches down and touches the boy as he stirs in his toddler bed, before wandering around the room, seemingly disturbed by a sound, and fleeing the room, leaving the boy sleeping peacefully," the outlet noted.

This is the disturbing moment four-year old #CashGernon was taken from his bed early Saturday morning by… https://t.co/6yPpob8ShG

— The Daily Sneed ™ ➐ (@Tr00peRR) 1621388055.0

'Truly traumatizing'

A jogger — later identified by the Daily Mail as 39-year-old Antwainese Square — said that she discovered Cash's lifeless body in the middle of a street, initially believing it to be that of a dog.

"That image that I saw, I just can't erase it," Square, an educator, recalled. "To see a child covered in blood in the middle of the street, it's truly traumatizing."

Cash, she said, was not wearing a shirt or shoes.

Square added that when she got closer, she realized it was a child and began screaming. She called 911, she said, and added that dispatchers requested she check the boy for any signs of life.

"They asked me to walk right up to the body in case the little boy was still alive," Square recalled. "And if he was, for me to try to save his life. I saw ants crawling all over his bare feet and he had blood over his face. He had no shoes, no socks, no shirt, none of that."

"He was only wearing a pair of bottoms, shorts," she added. "I just keep remembering those ants at the bottom of that baby's feet. He was on his back in the roadway. I remember one arm and one leg out. And the reason why I remember the arm and leg is because when I was walking up from afar, that was the determination of me knowing, 'OK this is a human. This is not a dog, this is a human being.'"

Square said that she remained with Cash's lifeless body until first responders arrived.

"[T]here was no way in the world I was going to leave that baby on his own," she said. "Whether he was dead or alive, I just wasn't going to leave him. My fear was somebody was going to accidentally run over him."

This 4y/o boy was found murdered on Saturday am on Saddlerige drive in the Mountain Creek Area in Dallas.Mom iden… https://t.co/rv9n3BybRr

— Malini Basu (@MaliniBasu_) 1621212902.0

Living with their biological father's estranged girlfriend

The boys were said to be living with Monica Sherrod, the girlfriend of their biological father, who the outlet reported "vanished" in March.

Sherrod said that Brown was "known to the family as the brother of her older son's friend," but the motive behind the shocking murder remains unknown at the time of this reporting.

Sherrod added that the suspect was able to gain entry to the home through an unlocked garage door.

"[F]ootage shows [Brown] returning at 7 a.m.," she told the outlet. "It seemed he was spooked by someone. It chills me to think that he could have been coming back for Carter."

Sherrod said that she didn't even realize the child was gone until later that morning when Cash failed to wake her up as he always did.

"We were all asleep when it happened," Sherrod said. "Cash usually wakes me up, but he didn't wake me [that day]. When I got up, I noticed he was gone. I called 911. I didn't even know somebody had taken him. I thought he might have gone outside. That was until I watched my surveillance camera, which showed someone taking him out."

Where are the mom and dad?

According to a report from the Dallas Morning News, Cash's biological mother and grandmother had been looking for for the children, and believed the boys were with their father.

The outlet reported that the family did not realize that their father left them with Sherrod and disappeared.

Authorities still do not know the father's whereabouts at the time of this reporting.

Carter has since been reunited with his mother.