Mom Locks Son in Basement Until He Gets Gangrene

Mom Locks Son in Basement Until He Gets Gangrene

Ethan Nathaniel Ray Belchure was born on July 20th, 2017, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents, Jonathan Belchure and Valerie Lynn Hamilton, ultimately separated. Valerie then met and began a relationship with Shane Robert Shelton. While it is unclear if the two were married, he has been referred to in reports as Ethan’s stepfather.

Ethan had three brothers named Jacob, Mason, and Shane. Not much is known about Ethan, but it is necessary to share a few words about the children covered in these reports, especially because their lives are so tragically short and often taken. Looking over his pictures, it appeared he was a happy little boy who enjoyed playing in the playground and liked the show PJ Masks. According to his aunt Ashley, who will be referenced frequently in this story, “He loved to be loved, go to the park, and be with his brothers.”

On Sunday, January 22nd, 2023, officers with the Detroit Police Department responded to a 911 call at a residence at 14660 Spring Garden Street regarding an unknown problem. Once there, police saw paramedics putting 5-year-old Ethan into an ambulance. Sadly, Ethan later died at the hospital. After hospital staff examined Ethan’s body, the reality of what was occurring in his mother’s dilapidated home became clear. Ethan had loop-shaped abrasions covering his body, indicating he had been beaten with a cord-like object. He had also been suffering from gangrene on one of his toes.

Investigators soon spoke with the other children living in the home, who told them that Valerie and Shane regularly beat Ethan and his brother. They would also lock the two in the basement, which was rank with feces and sewage. Additionally, text messages between the couple painted a vulgar picture of the mistreatment the children were subjected to. In one text, redacted by the courts, Shane stated (verbatim): “Beat the dog [expletive] out of that [expletive].” In another, Valerie stated she was going to slam their kids so hard that their heads would pop off.

Consequently, Shane Shelton and Valerie Hamilton were arrested and are currently being held without bond. They were charged with felony homicide, torture, and conspiracy to commit torture. They were also charged with first-degree child abuse stemming from the horrors the couple inflicted upon Ethan’s younger brother, who was taken into custody by Child Protective Services (CPS) and subsequently placed in foster care.

In the wake of Ethan’s death, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released a statement: “The MDHHS extends its deepest sympathies to the Belchure family during this extraordinarily difficult time and appreciates their advocacy for protecting children. MDHHS will continue to work daily with law enforcement, community partners, and others on child abuse prevention services. The department endeavors to be as transparent as the law allows. Both state and federal law prohibit MDHHS from sharing specifics about CPS cases, including the Michigan Child Protection Law and federal law. Confidentiality of CPS records has been part of state law for decades. The confidentiality requirement in state and federal law protects children who have been abused or neglected and their siblings from the additional trauma of having the intimate details of their alleged abuse and neglect made public. The department is always willing to work with our legislative partners to protect the well-being of children and families.”

However, according to aunts Candace Rush and Ashley Belchure, Ethan’s family called CPS more than a dozen times during his short life. They shared that the little boy endured pure torture during the past few years before he died. According to Candace, they first called CPS sometime before Ethan turned two. He was so skinny that when relatives saw him, they could count every rib, but allegedly, CPS told them he was not malnourished. In 2021, Ashley said she took Ethan to the hospital after Valerie’s mother brought him to her beaten from head to toe. He had welts all over his head, his eye was swollen and almost split open. His hand was swollen, and he was bruised across his ribs, legs, and buttocks. It was so bad that he could hardly sit. According to Ashley, “Ethan was a precious baby boy and he did not deserve to go through what he went through, which was pure torture.”

According to assistant prosecuting attorney Maria Miller, Lincoln Park Police investigated and sent a warrant request for child abuse charges to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in October 2021. Prosecutors returned this warrant to police in February 2022 and asked them to conduct further investigation; the request never went any further. According to Lincoln Park Police Chief Raymond Waters, Ethan suffered minor injuries in 2021 and prosecutors denied the warrant request. However, attorney Miller claimed that prosecutors never denied this request at all. Ashley felt the police were just as responsible for Ethan’s death. She said, “They failed him, too. They just ignored it and swept it under the rug.” Ashley also claimed that Ethan had been burned with cigarettes; in fact, he allegedly had over 100 cigarette burns all over his body.

The complaints of abuse weren’t the only ones lodged against the couple. Neighbor Deborah Jackson had lived in the same home on Spring Garden Street in Detroit for almost 40 years. She said the block was relatively quiet until last spring when Shane and Valerie moved next door with several of their children. Deborah said the home they moved into was severely damaged by water and fire and had sat vacant for more than a dozen years. Shane bought the derelict house and moved in before they even fixed it up. According to Deborah, who lived just a few feet away, Shane began using loud power tools at all hours. Then, he began harassing her and her autistic son, Jesse. She said that at one point, Shane pulled a gun on her. She claimed she called the police more than 30 times, but the issues were never taken seriously. “I was on the phone calling 911 every chance that I got because I couldn’t take it. Jesse couldn’t take it. I told them about the harassment. I told them about the continuous noise.”

The neighbor said she didn’t witness any child abuse, but she did hear things that disturbed her. According to her: “I think that baby started crying from I think about 5 that evening and it went all night into the morning and the baby stopped at some point. What I could not understand about the whole thing was that the gun being pulled on me, that was not investigated. None of the complaints that I made were investigated.” When asked for comment, the Detroit Police Department stated: “The Detroit Police Department has never received a single call from Miss Jackson regarding alleged child abuse involving this family. The department has closely examined all calls from Miss Jackson regarding her neighbor. They range from a whimpering cat outside on the neighbor’s porch, a verbal altercation regarding damaged wires by a neighbor, the neighbor’s parked car touching her fence, the neighbors banging on the side of the house yelling threats, neighbors pumping water from the basement running into her front yard, neighbor parked on her driveway, noise complaints due to renovations, neighbor burning wood causing the smell to enter her home, etc. In no way could the Detroit Police Department have known about possible child abuse taking place inside this home based on the nature of these calls.”

On February 4th, family and friends gathered outside the rundown Detroit home where Ethan lost his life. According to his aunt Ashley, “He hasn’t even been laid to rest yet. We haven’t had our closure yet either.” During the vigil, Ethan’s great aunt, Jennifer Schmes, shared an emotional message: “Ethan, you will always live in all of our hearts forever, and we will all fight for you to have change for all kids so that no other child has to be abused and go through what you went through. No child deserves that. We will fight for change so all children will be safe in their own homes. God bless you, Ethan.”

Saturday evening in Detroit, family and loved ones of Ethan Belchure shed tears, hung on to one another, and lit candles just as bright as their lost loved one. That beautiful big smile he used to always give me when I’d say “smile,” taking a picture of you… you know, he loves pictures. He just loved being with his brother and showing how happy they always were together. With t-shirts showing off that big smile and reading “Justice for Ethan Belchure,” the 5-year-old’s aunts led the vigil held on Spring Garden Street, the same street where Ethan was found dead.

We are here to remember the little things that made a special place in our heart. To remember those happy times when we laughed. Since Ethan’s heart-wrenching passing, these women have been powerhouses, mourning him deeply and fighting for his memory passionately. He was just a 5-year-old little boy who wanted to live life, and it was taken way too short by his parents. That’s what hurts so bad. Ethan’s aunts say they called Child Protective Services more than a dozen times to report Ethan and his three-year-old little brother being abused, but the caseworkers failed to keep the little boy safe.

As these aunts continue to mourn, they are also working with State Senator Jim Runestad to introduce a bill for media and state leaders to have more access to information to stop tragedies like this and bring greater oversight of CPS. “We just wanted to do something to help raise awareness for this poor baby.” And that they did. These aunts say that they know Ethan is now safe in heaven in the arms of his granny and papa. While they are still here, they will continue to fight to protect other bright little boys just like Ethan. The bill that Senator Runestad introduced is extremely important when it comes to protecting children like Ethan. According to the senator, CPS is exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests, so nobody can get information about any investigations. The bill he is introducing will change that while still protecting the privacy of the child involved. He said, “You can’t get information. He can’t get information and the legislature can’t get information. This bill would say that somebody like me can go in and look at the entire case. Right now, I wouldn’t be able to say anything about the case, but I’d be in front of the caseworkers and supervisors and say, ‘What the hell is going on here?'” The senator is hoping to push this change through quickly and make a difference in another child’s life soon.

Ethan’s cousin, Christina Ski, started a GoFundMe page to cover his funeral expenses, which his aunt Ashley was responsible for planning. The fundraiser was closed after raising $9,657. What’s troubling, though, is how much this whole ordeal has affected poor Ashley. In September of 2022, her mother, Patricia, passed away. In December of the same year, she lost her father, Timothy. After having to step up to the plate for her parents’ deaths, she was now called to do it again for her 5-year-old nephew. It makes you wonder, though, where was Jonathan for all this? We weren’t able to pull up a ton of information, but Jonathan is one of those folks who tends to have several profiles on the same social media platform. It appears that as of the date of this recording, he’s currently engaged to a woman named Tina who has girls of her own. Based on a post made to Tina’s page shortly after Ethan’s death, it appears that he hasn’t played a large part in his son’s lives. A woman named Michelle wrote: “Everybody on here, go watch the news for yesterday and see what kind of friends you got. This is just sick that he won’t step up to be a dad to his own kids. Now, one is dead from abuse and still won’t stand up for the other one. So sad.” She continued in the comments: “How can you sit there and let this happen? You have girls. What if that would have been your kids? Just so unreal.”

Even worse, Ethan’s body remained at the Wayne County morgue for over 16 days due to the fact that Jonathan decided to step away from communicating with his family. Due to this, Ethan’s body could not be released to the funeral home to prepare him for burial. Ashley ended up needing to get Valerie to sign the paperwork so that he could be transferred from the morgue. Ashley had proof that her brother was notified of his son’s passing, but apparently, he decided not to step up. It feels like the only person that truly cared for Ethan in life and in death was Ashley. “We’re trying to grieve, but in the same sense, we’re angry at why it’s taking this long.” Ashley tells Local 4 it took her quite some time to get Ethan’s mother, Valerie Hamilton, to sign paperwork to get his release from the morgue, but she still can’t get any help from her brother. She held a candlelight vigil for Ethan Saturday night at the home where he died so out-of-town family members who had spent a week waiting for a funeral could pay last respects. You would think it would just be easy for them to want this baby to be laid to rest. What’s more, Ethan’s case garnered national headlines and led to a New Jersey woman putting up this bogus GoFundMe page today, allegedly to benefit Ethan’s older surviving brother, whom Ashley will raise. Ashley contacted GoFundMe, and they pulled the page down. “You know, we’re already grieving. We’re already in hard times right now. And then you got people like that you got to worry about collecting under your name and then I might get backlash for that. You know, I don’t know that person.”

Ethan was finally laid to rest in a tiny white casket. His funeral service was held on February 15th, 2023, almost a month after he was killed, at the Molnar Funeral Home in Southgate, Michigan. His family held a private service which was live-streamed for those who cared about Ethan to watch. As this case stands now, neither Shane nor Valerie have gone to trial to face their charges. And as we’ve seen over the past few years, it might be a while until they finally face justice. Ashley Belchure now has custody of Ethan’s brother, Mason. And it appears, based on the information we have, that Jonathan still doesn’t want to be a dad to his remaining son. I know we always say that if you see something, say something. Well, Ashley did and Candace did. Hopefully, Senator Runestad’s proposed legislation will make some bit of a difference for children like Ethan. As preoccupied as she’s been, she hadn’t seen our story from last night showing the state admitted 135 children died in the last two years while involved with the state’s child welfare system. Oh my god, it angers me. It makes me so sad. All this is to give veil to all those babies and nothing be done.