An 11-year-old Colorado boy allegedly killed his little brother while he took a peaceful nap after school, according to reports and authorities.
Elias Reliford, 5, has been identified by family as the child who was found dead at his home in the cozy Colorado suburb of Centennial on March 10, according to WTSP.
Reliford’s 11-year-old brother has since been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing that took place on an ordinary afternoon after the siblings returned home from school, according to their family.
The children’s great-aunt, Dawn Myles, revealed that the older brother had been asked to do chores while Elias napped after school when the disturbing incident unfolded.
“Then that’s when everything happened — during that time that he was asleep,” Myles told the outlet.
The exact details of how Reliford was killed have not been revealed by authorities since the children are minors. The family also declined to discuss the case as they process the horrific act.
Myles described the murder as “the most horrendous act that a human could commit on another human, especially a child.”
“We would have never imagined the big brother that he was would hurt Elias,” she said on behalf of the youngster’s devastated parents.
Myles described the siblings as inseparable, with the two often playing together and riding around the neighborhood.
“He was very outgoing. Just loved being outside. Outside was his thing,” the aunt said of Elias, noting he loved fire trucks and playing pranks.
“If you saw one brother, you saw the other one,” Myles said.
Reliford’s family has since packed up their Centennial home after the devastating loss and is now bouncing between hotels as they navigate finding a more permanent living situation.
The brother’s eldest sibling, a 12-year-old, is now staying with other family members in Louisiana, the outlet reported.
“The family is not well,” Myles said. “There’s anger, there’s questions … there’s two losses here, you know, two brothers.”
The 11-year-old is now being held in the Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
Myles said she hopes Reliford will be remembered as a happy kindergartener riding his scooter throughout the neighborhood.
“I would want to see him smile, ride his scooter,” she said. “He was a happy kindergartener. He was a happy kid.”