World News Today Interview:

Charles Richmond, Branson family neighbor

 

Ethan was a quiet kid. You’d see him playing in the yard and so forth, usually alone. Always looked kinda . . . blank. Felt sorry for him with a dad like that. You’d hear him shouting at the boy and his mom. Stumbling from the car to the door, drunk. Never seen a man so full of hate.

One time, it was fall. I guess Ethan was late coming home for dinner, and the dad locked him out of the house. Kid couldn’t have been more than eight, nine years old. He was crying and knocking at the door. The dad yelled at him to cut it out, that he needed to learn his lesson. Show some respect.

That boy just sat there. Probably a few hours. A neighbor brought him a blanket and a sandwich. And someone must’ve called the police because when a couple squad cars came to the house, the dad stormed out. Yelling at the police to get off his property. That they were trespassing. Screaming at the neighbors to mind their own damn business. Then he turned around and walked right up to his own son and slapped him so hard the boy fell over. When the police tried to subdue him, he took a swing at an officer. They had him handcuffed and in the back of a squad car before the boy was even up off the ground.

They moved away the next month.