Couple Accused Of 'Violently' Abusing 8-Year-Old Boy Who Was Found Dead In Hotel Room With Burns, Bite Marks, And Broken Arm

A Texas couple has been accused of "violently abusing" an 8-year-old boy for a period of at least 10 days before he was discovered dead in a hotel room, having sustained burns, bite marks, swelling and a broken arm.

Codie McCrory, 28, and his girlfriend Leslie Curtis, 30, are now facing capital murder charges in the death of Curtis’ son, Delmor Best-Curtis, according to a statement from the Irving Police Department.

“The investigation is still in the early stages, but (it) revealed that Codie and Leslie had been violently abusing Delmor for at least [10] days,” police said.

Irving Police Officer Robert Reeves described the pair to KDFW as “evil people” who had inflicted unimaginable harm to the young boy.

“It’s pretty bad. From bite marks to burn marks to fingernail marks, you can tell he was choked before because there were fingernail marks around the neck,” Reeves said of the Delmor’s injuries. “Some of them are so graphic, it’s kind of disgusting to even talk about them.”

Codie Mccrory and Leslie Curtis Photo: Irving Police Department

The boy also had “blood on his head, facial swelling and an obvious broken left arm,” as well as bruises, cuts, and burns “all over” is body, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com.

Irving Police were called to the Magnuson Hotel around 5:30 p.m. Friday after receiving a call about an “unconscious person.”

Officers arrived at the hotel—where the boy had lived with his mother and her boyfriend since November—to find Delmor lying on the bed “unresponsive” and began to perform CPR, police said.

The 8-year-old was taken to the Children’s Hospital in Dallas, where he was pronounced dead. A medical examiner determined that Delmor had died from blunt force trauma, the affidavit stated. 

 While talking with investigators, McCrory allegedly told police that he had pushed the boy.

“The defendant admitted within the last 48 hours before the victim’s death he pushed the victim as punishment,” the affidavit said. “One of the pushes resulted in the victim hitting his head against the bottom rail of the bed causing him to bleed from the face. Another push from the defendant caused the victim to hit his head against the ground and he bled from his mouth.”

Curtis allegedly told police that her son’s abuse had gone on for about 10 days before his death. She allegedly admitted to breaking Delmor’s arm and causing several injuries to his head, the affidavit stated.

She also allegedly told investigators that McCrory would punch, slap and kick both her and her son and that he often bit both of them. She said he typically bit Delmor whenever he moved during a beating, police said.

When officers arrived at the hotel, they reported that Curtis had a “black right eye and significant bruising to the left side of her face” and “an injury to the back of her head,” according to the affidavit.

“Curtis had seen the defendant kick the victim on the head on more than one occasion,” the affidavit said.

Police said when she had left the hotel room, she said her son had been in the bed and was “talking and responsive.”

Police the boy had not been enrolled in school, making it easier for the abuse to go on undetected.