Alabama man, Desmond Burt Sr., was charged with two counts of capital murder following the alleged double homicide of his three-year-old son and the man’s 62-year-old mother.
According to the Birmingham Police Department (BPD), Desmond was arrested and charged on Apr. 5, WBMA reported.
BPD initially took the 31-year-old into custody on Apr. 3 when police found the bodies of Desmond Burt Jr. and Cynthia Burt in a back room at 4909 Hillman Drive Southwest. BPD and Birmingham Fire and Rescue forced themselves into the home, where the two were pronounced dead at the scene.
BPD’s West Precinct officers were called to the residence at 5:12 p.m. for a welfare check that day, as family members called authorities because they were worried about Cynthia. They hadn’t heard from her and were concerned for her well-being.
She and her grandson suffered from blunt-force trauma injuries to their bodies, but the cause of their deaths has not yet been revealed.
During a news conference on Apr. 5, Interim Chief Scott Thurman said Desmond was at home with other relatives when his son and mother were discovered. He also questioned whether or not the Birmingham man had been mentally unstable, but he could not confirm that.
“The city of Birmingham and the Birmingham Police Department would like to extend our sincerest condolences to the family and to the community,” Thurman said at the conference.
Desmond’s son’s other grandmother, Louise Kennedy’s friend Taylor Sides, created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the child’s funeral.
“This is an unimaginable situation that no person/family should ever have go through,” she wrote. “Please help if you are able, if not, keep this family in your thoughts and prayers in the coming weeks!…Hopefully the donations can lessen the burden of burial and memorial services.”
So far, Sides has raised over $1,000 more than her intended goal of $5,000.
As of late, Desmond has been held at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.
