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What Happened That Night
posted (January 13, 2020)
But, for the family of the boy who was killed and the two who were injured, no apology or explanation can satisfy them. They have lost an innocent young life to the most unthinkable and cruel crime in recent memory.

Cherisse Halsall has the story of what happened on Friday night:

It's an extremely wicked shockingly evil and vile crime that happened at a home off Lovely Lane on Friday night.

On Friday just before 6:00, Kenrick Longsworth allegedly inflicted a terrible beating on his stepchildren. Mark Fransisco Tuyul Jr., a three-year-old toddler, died from his injuries. Reports suggest that Longsworth may have also molested the child.

And the father of the Children Mark Tuyul says that most heartbreaking of all is the vivid description his 4-year-old son was able to give of his brother's murder.

Mark Tuyul, Father of the children
"My oldest son is traumatized and that's what hurts me because he is the oldest one and he was protecting his little brother. He protected his little brother and saw Kenrick beating my son to death with a hammer in the chair. He is somebody who will need a lot of counselling because he's traumatized he's the one that took the lick mostly because he's the eldest."

Mark Tuyul, Father of the children
"Yeah he's traumatized and every minute when he goes into a sleep, he dreams, and he's seeing things in his sleep, and ha's no my son. My son is traumatized bad and he needs lots of counselling right now. I may even need counselling because my head is bad right now. I can't think right now."

"Mein it was drastic I couldn't' believe it really happened honestly I couldn't believe it like when I heard that news there I just dropped right down I couldn't believe that really happened and when I did reach the hospital and I saw my son I cry, cry, cry I held my son and I cried I couldn't believe it. I could not believe it was my son I was looking at on this bed. I hurt me more than a father or a mother have a daughter but that is my 3-year-old junior. He has my full details and that is what hurts me because I will never even think to make another child and name him Junior. My junior is dead. I'm empty I don't have anything just my two sons I have to live for."

And this morning, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams shared the series of horrifying events as the police experienced them.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The mother of the three children had left home, leaving the kids with the step-father and she went to do some errands and she returned around 5pm there about and when she came back, she met the step-father at the house and he told her certain things and when she went in she encountered the first child who was in a state of unconsciousness, she managed to rush him to the hospital and upon reaching there he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, Police were called to the hospital where they went and they observed the child and may I say that the photographs being circulated on social media with a child with his head split open that is not the child. Subsequent to that the police visited the home and there encountered the other two children and they too were exhibiting signs of violence and so they were taken to the hospital by the police. Those other two children are currently admitted still but they were not seriously injured they were stable and they are on their way to recovery. So that is where we are currently."

And the commissioner took some time to refute some of the more sensationalized aspects of this horrible crime.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I have seen in social media that they were suggesting that the other two children the surviving kids have been sexually molested, let me refute that here once and for all, the doctors have examined those two children and there's no sign of them being sexually molested, as it relates to the third child that died I'm not going to go into that."

Jules Vasquez:
"Sir, are you able to say if indeed the weapon used was a hammer?"

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"NO, it's not a hammer from what we observed it may have been some board because the injuries it's more like a blunt object and not a hammer which was again said by people in social media."

But, horrifying as the events surrounding the assault on his children were, they did not come as a complete shock to Mark Tuyul because he says Longsworth had made threats against him and the very child he killed.

Mark Tuyul, Father of the children
"Well from ever since he had already threatened me, I fear him myself, he threatened me and my son and it's the same Jun Jun who I had in my hands. So I fear him for that."

And, several time, the children's mother, Zema Castillo, had posted evidence of domestic abuse at Longsworth's hand. Now, police say she may face charges of negligence.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I must say that when it comes to the mother there is some degree of negligence on her part and we will have o look to see where we will address the issue where she is concerned bear in mind the fact that she's already going through a very terrible time."

"Look at the welfare of the other two children will a decision be made as to whether or not they remain with the mother or should they, in fact, be re-located. So there are several components that must be allowed to play out."

Play out they must, but while their mother's suitability is under intense scrutiny, her mother, their Grandmother could be their best hope for a chance at normalcy moving forward. She told us how the children's ordeal has affected her and how she plans to move forward if granted custody.

Anne Carcamo, Grandmother
"All they told me was that I fell down about 4-5 times in the hospital. They doctors had to put me to sit down. My oldest daughter she fell down too when we got the news and ran came here. I didn't like the idea, because firstly, I didn't like the person. Secondly, I knew the whole generation - knew what were capable of doing and I didn't like her with him."

"One is released and the other one is right there not feeling too well. They are still treating him. They said that they might not have her be in custody of the kids, but I am asking if I could get them, so when I leave from there that is what I am going to see about. I just have to take it one day at a time with them. I Just want to try to see how better I can get the kids be and then I have my daughter home with me, the one who is working and then my youngest daughter, I will have help in taking care of them, it won't be too hard and I have space for them to sleep."

But, the road to recovery may be very hard for the entire family and this evening Mark Tuyul told us that while his mind is far from being in the right place:

Mark Tuyul, Father of the children
"I prefer they give him the same treatment he gave to my baby who was my junior, the same treatment he did to my baby. They are supposed to give him that because if I hold him to mind myself I'd give it to him myself."

A postmortem on 3-year-old Mark Franscisco Tuyul Jr. certified his cause of death to be asphyxia combined with blunt force trauma to the head.

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