EATON COUNTY, Mich. (WXYZ) — Of all the cases Adam Strong has tried in his 14 years as a prosecutor, none haunt him like the murder of 6-year-old Kyron Kelemen.
See the full investigation in the video below
“Kyron was an innocent little boy. He liked trucks,” said Strong, the deputy chief assistant prosecuting attorney in Eaton County. “He was doing his schoolwork that day…right up until she killed him.”
Kyron was killed by his stepmother Elysa Kelemen, who was convicted in April of first-degree murder by an Eaton County jury.
Related coverage from WXYZ — Unprotected: Investigating Michigan's child welfare system
As 7 News Detroit revealed last year, Kyron died following repeated complaints to Children's Protective Services (CPS) in Genesse County. The warnings stated the six-year-old had “bruises all over his face” and “in the middle of his rib cage.”
Watch below: A Michigan boy’s bruises, black eyes were reported to CPS for months. Then he was killed.
“Elysa is physically abusing” him, warned one complaint, while another said that after showing up to school with visible injuries, Kyron was pulled out “to cover up the bruises and abuse.”
“It’s not like they didn’t know about it,” Strong said about the complaints to CPS. “It’s not like they didn’t talk to people. It’s not like they didn’t see the abuse. They just didn’t do anything about it.”
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The complaints—made in September, October and November of 2023—would all be closed. By January, Kyron would be murdered.
“Failure to protect is something CPS can step in for,” Strong said. “The fact that they didn’t do anything about that, that CPS did not substantiate for that is mind-blowing.”
Strong speaks from experience. Before he became a prosecutor, he investigated allegations of child abuse for CPS.
“When you got this case and you looked at the CPS investigations, what did you make of them?” asked Channel 7’s Ross Jones.
“An incredible failure,” Strong said. “Many people—not just CPS in Genesee County—but many people failed this boy.”
Kyron was not the first child to die suddenly under Elysa’s care. Her biological son, Carter, died in 2020.
Elysa reported finding the 4-year-old unresponsive after getting out of the shower. She would tell Flint police he’d been sick at points during the previous month.
Officers found “no visible injuries or bruises,” and no charges were ever filed. After an eight-month investigation, CPS found “no evidence of abuse/neglect.”
The cause and manner of death would be deemed undetermined by the Genesee County Medical Examiner.
No one has been identified as a suspect in Carter’s death.
Strong, who reviewed police and autopsy records related to Carter’s death, says the investigations by CPS and Flint Police were both woefully incomplete.
“They couldn’t figure out how he died, his autopsy was completely normal except that he had a cold. And he’s…4-years-old,” Strong said. “Supposedly was only out of (Elysa’s) sight for 15 minutes and then suddenly stopped breathing and was dead. 4-year-olds don’t just die like that. So something happened.”
Lisabeth Wheeler, Carter’s grandmother and Elysa’s mother, testified against her daughter during Kyron’s murder trial.
“(Elysa) called me an hour or so later and said, 'Mom, Kyron stopped breathing,'” Wheeler recalled to 7 News Detroit. “My first response to her was: 'Are you serious? Another child?'”
After seeing how detectives with the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office investigated Kyron’s death, Lisabeth began to have concerns over the thoroughness of the investigation into Carter’s death, which was conducted by Flint Police.
“We were never called in for an interview,” Wheeler said.
“Other than being questioned at the hospital, were you ever questioned?” asked Jones.
“No,” she replied.
“Were any other relatives questioned, that you’re aware of?” Jones asked.
“No, not that I’m aware of,” Wheeler replied.
Watch below:Detroit boy warned CPS his mom wanted 'to kill him.' Prosecutors say she did.Tessa Williams had a similar experience. One of Elysa’s best friends, she provided police with text messages between her and Elysa about bruises found on Kyron following his death.
She told 7 News Detroit about a conversation she had had with Elysa shortly before Carter’s death.
“Her boyfriend said there were too many kids in the home,” Williams said, “And he’d had enough and she needed to leave. So she had called and let me know what was going on, she was very upset. And the next thing I know, Carter had passed away.”
It was information she said she would have shared with Flint Police, if they had asked.
“Were you ever questioned by Flint Police?” Jones asked.
“No,” Williams replied. “I would have sat down with them gladly and we could have went over some things, because I would have loved to let them know what I knew. But it almost felt like there wasn’t really an investigation at all.”
Flint Police declined our public records request to for their investigation into Carter’s death because—six years after he died—the case is still open.
“Have you seen evidence to show that Flint Police investigated Carter’s death?” Jones asked Adam Strong.
“What I have seen is that they responded, that there were some initial questions…I would not call it a thorough investigation,” Strong replied.
Said Lisabeth Wheeler: “Had Carter’s case been handled correctly to begin with, maybe Kyron would still be alive.”
Watch below:Monroe sheriff says CPS hindered efforts to help children found living in tentWhile the investigation into Carter’s death remains open today, family members say it reached a standstill long ago.
Today, they want a third-party to review Carter’s autopsy to see if anything could have been missed. But to get that done, they need the Genesee County Medical Examiner and Prosecutor’s Office to sign off. To date, they have not.
“My thinking is you would do everything you could to find out,” Lisabeth Wheeler said. “A 4-year-old passing away, it would just seem like natural curiosity that you’d want to find out. Especially when it’s your job.”
In a statement, the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office said: “Our responsibility as prosecutors is to follow the evidence. The autopsy was performed by a highly trained, highly regarded and experienced medical examiner and there is no evidentiary basis to question his findings nor legitimate justification to support referral to an outside pathologist in search of a different outcome.”
Elysa Kelemen’s criminal attorney Conrad Vincent released a statement saying, in part, that Carter’s death “was not the subject of the criminal proceedings against Ms. Kelemen, nor was the issue and circumstances surrounding the death of Carter Krammer admitted into evidence at trial. Any suggestion connecting Ms. Kelemen to criminal responsibility for Carter’s death is unproven and remains unsupported by the official findings in that case.”
He added that "the Genesee County Medical Examiner determined Carter’s cause and manner of death to be undetermined. Law enforcement observed no visible signs of trauma, no charges were authorized, and Child Protective Services concluded after an extended investigation that there was no evidence of abuse or neglect. It is my understanding that those conclusions remain unchanged."
Flint Police and the Genesee County Medical Examiner did not respond to our requests seeking comment.
“We are in charge of protecting kids as human beings," said Adam Strong. "That’s what our job is, that’s what we’re supposed to do as adults. Do it.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
