Educators Say Boy Never Showed Signs of Abuse Before Death

By D.C. Witness Staff - September 18, 2019
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Several of a child’s educators said they had no idea a boy sustained multiple fractures to his upper body weeks before his death.

James Embre is charged with felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children and second-degree cruelty to children for his alleged role in the death of two-year-old Aceyson Aizim Ahmad on the 3400 block of A Street, SE on April 17. According to court documents, Embre, 33, was involved in a romantic relationship with Ahmad’s mother. 

Employees from Educare, an early childhood school in Ward 7, said they never noticed Ahmad being in pain when he was picked up. According to a medical examiner from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the District of Columbia, the child sustained at least 15 rib fractures in the last three weeks of his life. 

A school employee told the jury that her interactions with Embre were always “nice.” However, she told the jury that Ahmad would occasionally pull away from Embre when he came to pick him up in the afternoon because he wanted to keep playing with the toys.

But, the Educare employee said the boy’s behavior was a normal reaction that most of the kids displayed when being picked up because they wanted to keep playing.

Ahmad’s primary teacher said the interactions between Embre and Ahmad were more “standoffish” compared to when Ahmad’s godmother would pick him up. The teacher said Ahmad would usually pull his godmother’s arm to play with him, while Ahmad would never do that with Embre. 

On the other hand, a teacher’s aide said Ahmad seemed to always be happy around Embre. On the day of the homicide, the aide said she saw Ahmad and Embre walking out of a liquor store holding hands and laughing. 

A forensic scientist collected multiple articles of clothing from the child’s bedroom, some of which had stains on the front of them; blankets from the child’s room; cups from the mother’s room; an unknown liquid substance found on the table in the mother’s room and a section of the children’s mattress that had an orange-like stain on it. 

However, none of the items were tested, according to the scientist.

Footage from a Metropolitan Police Department body worn camera shows an officer asking Ahmad’s sister, away from the mother, about what happened to her brother.

The sister first said Ahmad fell off the bed two times and hit his head two times. She also said that Embre was the one who put Ahmad back on the bed. However, in an officer’s patrol car, the girl told her mother that Embre hit the boy in the back. At first the girl told her mother that Embre hit the boy in his stomach.  

Multiple officers also told the jury that Ahmad’s mother and Embre both acted very concerned about the boy’s well being and went out to seek help immediately. 

The boy’s sister is scheduled to testify on Sept. 18.