A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of a 5-year-old boy whose severely injured body was found in a Panorama City dumpster on Saturday, according to booking records and a law enforcement source.
Brycson Gaddis was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday morning in connection with the boy’s killing, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s jail log and a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.
Gaddis was described as the ex-boyfriend of the child’s mother and is not his father, according to Troy Hearn Sr., the boy’s grandfather.
The child suffered “massive injuries” including a fractured jaw, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver, the law enforcement official said. An LAPD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Authorities have not disclosed a specific cause of death in the case, and the boy’s name was not released.
Hearn also accused Gaddis of kidnapping the boy and his mother, Kemia Hearn, 24, near a store and forcing them into an apartment complex close to where the body was found. Troy Hearn said his daughter was also detained for questioning but released Wednesday.
Kemia Hearn and Gaddis had dated on and off for a few years, and Gaddis was allegedly stalking her, according to Troy Hearn.
“It’s very heartbreaking for him to do that to my 5-year-old grandson,” he said. “I’m identifying the body this afternoon. I’m overwhelmed and so angry that I can’t even explain it. This guy is a bad guy and it’s lucky that the police has him.”
The boy’s body was found after police responded to the 8200 block of Van Nuys Boulevard around 7 a.m. Saturday, authorities said.
Over the past 12 months, Gaddis has been charged with carjacking, assault and domestic violence, and there was an active bench warrant for his arrest at the time of the boy’s death, according to court records.
In July 2024, he was one of three defendants charged with carjacking and assault stemming from an incident in Baldwin Park. But charges against all three were dropped in December, after a prosecutor announced he was not ready to proceed on the day of Gaddis’ preliminary hearing, according to court records. As a result, Gaddis was released from jail on Dec. 16.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two months after being released from jail, Gaddis was arrested by Los Angeles police in February and charged with multiple counts of domestic violence and false imprisonment after he repeatedly punched his girlfriend and then locked her in their apartment against her will on two different occasions, according to a criminal complaint.
A trial date was set for April, but Gaddis did not appear in court, leading a judge to issue a bench warrant, records show.
Gaddis was subject to electronic monitoring after charges were filed, but several alerts were sent to the L.A. County Probation Department in May that the device’s battery was dead and Gaddis was ignoring calls from the monitoring company. A probation department spokeswoman said Wednesday she had no records related to Gaddis.
On Saturday, officers followed a tip to an apartment complex on Lanark Street, less than a mile from where the body was found, police said. Officials executed a search warrant at around 9:30 p.m. at one of the apartments and detained a man and a woman. Two children were in the apartment as well. In total, five people were detained for questioning Monday.
Women pray together during a vigil for the child in Panorama City.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services took custody of the two children.
Local residents held a vigil for the boy the same night that the adults were detained, KTLA news reported. Vigil attendees filmed the adults being led away in handcuffs, and someone was heard screaming “justice.”
A growing collection of toys, flowers and notes have been left in the parking lot where the boy was found.
A rainbow-colored Snoopy rested near a star-shaped yellow helium balloon in the pile on Monday. “Fly with the angels little guy,” one message said.
Eduardo Martinez, 28, a Panorama City resident, wept and shook his head. Nearby, a half-dozen people held hands and prayed.
“Whatever happened here is despicable,” said Martinez, who attends nursing school next door. “I hope they catch whoever did this.”
This pocket of Panorama City is largely commercial, with dentist offices, nursing schools, and restaurants lining the streets. A nearby apartment tower looms over the parking lot.
“They still haven’t found who did it, no?” Brandon Moreno, a teenager who lives nearby, asked a friend as they peered through a chain-link fence at the memorial.
The neighborhood, which is heavily Latino, is also on edge because of the recent immigration raids throughout the region, residents said.
“It’s a lot going on right now,” said Moreno.
