Oklahoma City, OK – An Oklahoma City teenager was found to have been beaten so badly he couldn’t walk.
The unnamed young man was discovered by neighbors as he crawled along his hands and knees outside of a home on the 2200 block of Kelham Avenue. Neighbors say the family moved into the house about six to seven months ago and still had Christmas decorations on the windows, reports local news affiliate NewsOn6.
The teenager appeared severely malnourished and couldn’t walk . He told the people who found him that he was too scared to go home, according to the Daily Mail. The Good Samaritans took notice of the teen’s injuries and called the police.
The report states the boy had bruises all over his legs and feet and was significantly underweight .
It was later disclosed that the 14-year-old, who looked and weighed more like an 8-year-old, had been beaten by his hammer-wielding mother. While being treated, the teen told authorities he’d been attacked by Elizabeth Alberty, 59.
The boy said she used a hammer to abuse him and that police could find it in her bedroom by her bed where she regularly kept the blunt tool.
When officers responded to the residence to question the boy’s mother, Alberty initially gave police a false name. When they asked about her son, she claimed the teen had run away.
Once she learned the boy had been taken to the hospital, Alberty changed her story again. The police report states the woman claimed she dropped a copy machine on the boy’s feet over the weekend but did not take him to the hospital.
Oklahoma City Police Department Master Sergeant Gary Knight said, “His lower extremities were injured to the point he couldn’t walk, he could only crawl. It appeared his feet and legs were broken or badly injured.”
Alberty was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with engaging in child abuse and neglect. The abusive mother is being held in jail on a $10,000 bond. The 14-year-old is in protective custody.
[Image via Shutterstock ]