Overview

• Brycson Malik Gaddis was formally charged July 18 with one count of murder and one count of assault on a child causing death in the case of Elyjah Hearn.
• Prosecutors allege Gaddis fatally beat the boy on July 11 inside a Lanark Street apartment before the child’s body was found in a Van Nuys Boulevard dumpster the next morning.
• Investigators tied Gaddis to the crime through surveillance video, witness statements and physical evidence collected at the apartment complex.
• Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered Gaddis held on $2 million bail and scheduled his arraignment for August 18 in Van Nuys.
• The case has prompted a growing community memorial and renewed calls for stronger domestic violence prevention and child protection measures.