The Day by day Beast
The Unusual New Flip within the Case of 4-12 months-Outdated Money Gernon
Picture Illustration by The Day by day Beast/Pictures by Dallas County Police DepartmentDALLAS—After the kidnapping and killing of 4-year-old Money Gernon in Dallas final week, neighbor Jose Alvarado checked his safety cameras for any footage that may assist investigators.What he discovered despatched a chill up his backbone.The video is from 10 weeks earlier than little Money was left lifeless of stab wounds on the bottom. Nevertheless it exhibits {the teenager} charged with abducting him, Darriynn Brown, skulking down the road, opening Alvarado’s yard gate and peering in earlier than shortly strolling away.“It’s actually scary,” Alvarado advised The Day by day Beast. “I’ve two youngsters, one woman and one boy, and so they play basketball within the yard.”Alvarado’s home shares a again alley with the house of Monica Sherrod, 35, who was taking good care of Money and his twin, Carter. She has stated she was courting the twins’ father, Trevor Gernon, a 31-year-old building employee, till he reportedly left city in March when a court docket ordered him to report back to rehab.That left Sherrod to look after the boys for the following two months—unbeknownst to their mom, Melinda Seagroves, who lives in Houston.Early on the morning of Could 15, a younger man crept into the twins’ bed room, lifted a still-sleeping Money out of the toddler mattress he shared with Carter, and walked out—a chilling scene captured in grainy black and white by a child monitor.The footage, obtained by the Day by day Mail, exhibits the intruder returning about two hours later, hovering over the mattress the place Carter remained in slumber, earlier than abruptly leaving as if he was startled by one thing.By then, Money was already lifeless.Antwainese Sq., a Dallas trainer who lives within the space, was out for her morning stroll round 6:45 a.m. when she noticed a clump of hair on the bottom she thought belonged to a canine.“I used to be on the cellphone with my mother,” Sq. advised The Day by day Beast. “As I bought nearer, I may see an arm and a foot and I simply started crying, saying, ‘Mother, I feel I’m arising on a physique.’ And I began, ‘Mommy, it’s a baby! It’s a baby!’ And the newborn had blood throughout his face. At that time, my mother advised me to get off the cellphone along with her and instantly name 911… The child had ants all around the backside of his toes. So I just about knew that he was gone.”Sq. stated she remembers “being in denial,” and hoped Money was really simply sleeping regardless that he was clearly lifeless. “I used to be simply making an attempt to place collectively all doable tales; there was no approach in my thoughts that I might suppose someone would try this to a child,” she stated, including that she stayed with Money’s physique till police and paramedics arrived so nobody would run over him.“One couple that was leaving out of their storage, I needed to cease them to allow them to know that this child was on the bottom,” Sq. stated.Greater than three hours later, Sherrod reported Money lacking. “The day that he was lacking, I bought up late and thought it was bizarre,” Sherrod would later inform the Day by day Mail. “I used to be like, ‘It’s 10 o’clock already, you guys.’ So I figured Money was nonetheless in mattress.” Money Gernon was kidnapped out of his mattress on Could 15. Handout Later that day, police arrested Brown, 18, who lives along with his dad and mom a few half-mile from the place Money’s physique was discovered, in accordance with court docket paperwork. He was charged with kidnapping and housebreaking, however not homicide as a result of police stated they’re ready for the results of forensic exams.Held in lieu of $1.5 million bail, Brown couldn’t be reached for remark and doesn’t have a lawyer listed in court docket data. His mom, Mimi, has advised reporters that she believes her son is being framed.A tangled net of relationships, felony data, and an unknown motive hangs over the case.Sherrod, the mom of a number of kids, has a felony file that features assault and DWI. Trevor Gernon, who has an intensive rap sheet, seems to have vanished; a cellphone quantity listed below his title was disconnected. Darriynn Brown, in the meantime, is reportedly a buddy of one in every of Sherrod’s kids and had been seen taking part in with kids in Sherrod’s care.Sherrod initially characterised any relationship she or her youngsters had with Brown, who attended the identical highschool as at the very least one of many boys dwelling in her home, as minimal. She later advised a reporter that Brown had visited her dwelling two days earlier than Money’s homicide, however she was out grocery procuring on the time.Based on a number of neighbors, Brown was positively not an unfamiliar face across the neighborhood. One advised The Day by day Beast the teenager frequently performed soccer and basketball with a few of the youngsters who lived with Sherrod. Others stated that they had noticed Brown on their Ring safety cameras hanging out within the space.Little info has emerged about Seagroves, who now has custody of Carter. Seagroves didn’t reply to a number of interview requests, however her mom, Connie Ward, advised The Day by day Beast this week: “We’re not prepared to offer any sort of assertion. My household is damaged. It has been a nightmare listening and watching the information about our child and tales being reported which might be false.”Seagroves doesn’t seem to have had any brushes with the legislation, however court docket data present each Sherrod and Gernon have data that embody arrests for assaulting their very own dad and mom.In 2013, Sherrod pleaded responsible to attacking her mom, Lezlee Pinkerton. Based on a felony affidavit signed by Officer Glenn Burkheimer-Lubeck of the Harris County Constable’s Workplace, Sherrod “deliberately struck” Pinkerton within the head and chest along with her hand and pulled her to the bottom, then “trigger[d] bodily harm” to Pinkerton “by stomping on [Pinkerton’s] toes along with her toes.”“Complainant reviews that she believes her toes are damaged,” the affidavit says. Sherrod was sentenced to 2 years of group supervision, participation in a home violence remedy program, a $100 donation to a household violence middle, and a $200 advantageous.In 2018, Gernon was arrested by deputies from the Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace for assaulting his father, Roger Gernon, throughout a dispute over a bank card invoice, Texas court docket data present. When Roger Gernon advised his son that he was going to name the police, Trevor grabbed the cellphone away, bloodied his dad’s arm along with his fingernails, and elbowed him within the chest. Charged with misdemeanor assault and interference with an emergency phone name, he pleaded responsible and was sentenced to 68 days in county jail.Along with the assault of relations, each Sherrod and Gernon have a historical past of theft, fraud, and drug possession.Sherrod’s most up-to-date arrest was for DWI; she has additionally pleaded responsible to identification fraud expenses, meth possession, driving and not using a license, and misdemeanor theft.Gernon’s most up-to-date arrest was for the possession of narcotics in 2020. He was beforehand charged for possession of methamphetamine in 2016. His rap sheet features a vary of different crimes.Neal Flanagan, who co-owns a corrosion-proofing enterprise, advised The Day by day Beast he met Gernon in highschool, then reconnected in 2016. He gave Gernon a bit of labor as a result of he was struggling. Then issues went sideways.“My ex-wife and I have been married on the time,” stated Flanagan. “We had began having points. She separated from me in January 2017. That’s when Trevor and her began seeing one another.”“I by no means did see him after,” stated Flanagan. “A pair years later, he messaged me on Fb. Like, ‘Hey buddy. The way you been?’ Like nothing ever occurred.”When he was sober, Gernon “was nearly as good as you would ask for,” Neal’s father, Johnny Flanagan, stated. However he added that he wasn’t stunned Gernon took off with out his boys.“He’s one in every of these guys that sort of goes whichever approach the wind blows, you recognize, and he’ll do good for a number of months after which do dangerous for a number of months and you recognize, simply up and disappear,” Flanagan stated.Gernon’s whereabouts are unknown. Following his indictment on felony drug possession expenses final November, he failed to look for a March 29, 2021, listening to and thus forfeited a $10,000 bond fee. There may be now an open warrant out for his arrest.Not one of the varied protection legal professionals who represented Sherrod or Gernon in court docket agreed to talk, citing attorney-client privilege.Money’s dying has raised many questions on these chargeable for him. However within the neighborhood the place he spent his final months, the overriding thriller is why would somebody kill a defenseless youngster and depart him on the road like trash. Steven Monacelli The solidly working-class Mountain Creek part of Dallas is a quiet place, bordered on one aspect by the 600-acre Cedar Ridge nature protect. Homes are in respectable form, and yards are clear. On the road the place Money’s physique was discovered, locals have been stopping at a shrine to go away toys, flowers, and different mementos.The lady who discovered Money’s physique, in the meantime, has been struggling along with her feelings since that morning.“It’s been troublesome. It actually has been troublesome,” Sq. advised The Day by day Beast.“I’ve a 3-year-old and as we’re coping with this and processing this, I’m studying that I’ve little triggers. If I see somewhat boy, 4, 3, 5, I’ll burst out crying. It’s only a set off for me. My very own daughter is sort of a set off. Generally she’ll say one thing and I’ll cry.“As a result of regardless that I didn’t know that child, he was simply robbed of his life. So, it’s been actually arduous. It’s been actually arduous to only course of this. And regardless of how a lot you attempt to transfer on, you possibly can’t unsee what you noticed.”Rohrlich reported from New York, and Monacelli from Dallas.Learn extra at The Day by day Beast.Bought a tip? Ship it to The Day by day Beast hereGet our high tales in your inbox daily. Enroll now!Day by day Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the tales that matter to you. Study extra.