US Missionary To Stand Trial Over Murder Of 3-Year-Old Stepson In Brazil

A US missionary has been ordered to stand trial over the killing of his three-year-old son, who prosecutors say was beaten after failing to say "good morning".

The case is being heard in Viamão, in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area of Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, where Oliver Golden Grayson died on 8 July.

American missionary Dandre Jermaine Grayson, 33, has been formally made a defendant on a charge of aggravated homicide and four counts of torture involving Oliver and three of his other children.

His wife, Mayanna Angelina Rodgers, has also been made a defendant on four counts of torture by omission involving the children.

Both remain in preventive custody after the court accepted the prosecution case on 28 August.

Prosecutors did not pursue a homicide charge against Mayanna, and the allegations against her relating to Oliver's death were dismissed.

The Rio Grande do Sul Public Prosecutor's Office alleges four children were subjected to intense physical and psychological suffering between early 2024 and July this year while the family lived in São Paulo, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states.

Prosecutors claim Dandre punched, slapped and bit his children and beat them with wires and ropes as punishment for minor behaviour.

Mayanna is accused of knowing about the violence, witnessing episodes of abuse and failing to stop them or alert authorities.

Prosecutors allege Dandre attacked Oliver at the family's home in Viamão on 5 July after becoming angry because the toddler did not say "good morning" to him.

They claim he punched the three-year-old and struck his head against the floor, causing severe traumatic brain injuries.

Oliver died three days later.

The homicide charge carries aggravating circumstances including an allegedly trivial motive, cruelty and the use of a method that made it harder for the child to defend himself.

The Public Prosecutor's Office has also asked for the couple to lose parental rights over the surviving children and for minimum compensation of BRL 50,000 for moral damages.

Judge Guilherme Pires Mitidiero ruled that the Viamão court can hear allegations of torture said to have taken place in São Paulo and Santa Catarina because the alleged homicide occurred in Viamão.

Dandre's defence said: "During the criminal proceedings, facts and defence arguments capable of guaranteeing the defendant a fair trial will be presented to the competent court."

Mayanna's lawyers stressed that she had not been charged with Oliver's homicide and said they would now focus on securing her release.

Her defence said: "Mayanna was not accused of homicide. That distinction is fundamental and needs to be made clear. We will now work to demonstrate her version of events and seek her freedom within all the guarantees provided by Brazilian law."

Police had previously indicted both parents following an investigation into alleged violence against their five children, aged between one and nine.

Investigators said all of the surviving children apart from the one-year-old had scars, bite marks or other injuries of different ages when examined.

Police also alleged the children had been taught not to show their bodies or tell other people about the injuries.

The four surviving children were removed from their parents' care and placed in institutional accommodation.

Investigators said Mayanna was in an adjoining room when Oliver was allegedly attacked and had opportunities to intervene.

The family had been monitored by Viamão's child protection service for about eight months before Oliver's death, with previous reports and interventions also recorded in São Paulo and Santa Catarina.

Dandre and Mayanna had moved to Brazil from the United States around nine years earlier and lived in several states while Dandre described himself as an evangelical missionary.

Dandre was arrested on 5 July after taking Oliver to hospital, where medical staff saw the child's injuries and alerted police.

A post-mortem examination later found that Oliver died from severe traumatic brain injury and also had multiple older scars on his body.

(Newsflash)