Mother of six-year-old allegedly dragged by car charged with murder

Flood conditions have held up search for the boy’s body

Police said that Brittany Gosney, 29, (L) and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, 42, (R) dumped the child’s body into the river near Lawrenceburg, Indiana (Middletown Division of Police)

An Ohio mother who allegedly attempted to abandon her 6-year-old son and dragged him by her car as she drove away has been charged with murder and corpse abuse.

Brittany Gosney of Middletown was charged on Friday on 16 counts, also including involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of endangering children, abduction, and kidnapping.

The reasons for those charges weren’t explained in further detail in the indictment.

Authorities have said that Ms Gosney told investigators that her son, James Hutchinson, was killed at a park in southern Preble County when he grabbed for a vehicle door and was dragged as she drove away.

Police believe that Ms Gosney, 29, and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, later dumped the child’s body into the river near Lawrenceburg, Indiana, last weekend.

Mr Hamilton, 42, was also indicted Friday on 15 counts, including corpse abuse, tampering with evidence, endangering children, kidnapping, and abduction.

Butler County court records listed no attorney for Ms Gosney and no attorney was listed for Mr Hamilton in online records, the Associated Press reported.

Flood conditions last week have held up the search for the boy’s body and the Middletown Division of Police said officers will be working with trained searchers in an attempt to recover the body.

“The river is very high and treacherous, so we will not be disclosing the exact location in hopes of avoiding another tragic incident,” they said in a statement.

Authorities say two other children who lived in a Middletown home have been removed into foster care and officials have set up a memorial fund in honour of their brother to support them.

According to Fox 19, a judge set bond at $1m (£723,000) for Ms Gosney on Monday and $100,000 (£72,300) for Mr Hamilton. Both individuals are reported to be due back in court on 8 March.

With reporting by the Associated Press