Salone, 27, had asked her ex-boyfriend, Deandre Chaney Jr., to watch her children while she dropped her brother off at work. When she returned home at about 6:10 a.m., she reportedly heard one of her children crying.
She was walking toward their bedrooms when Chaney struck her from behind with a hammer and tied her up, according to court records. Chaney was dousing the three-bedroom home with lighter fluid when the mother of three escaped to a neighbor’s house, where she called the police, her sister Latasha Robinson said.
Detectives are still piecing together a timeline of the events that led to the death of 8-year-old Dante Daniels.
The criminal complaint filed Sept. 15 by the Sacramento County District Attorney alleged that Chaney was “engaged in the crime of committing a lewd or lascivious act on a child” when he beat Dante with the hammer.
Robinson said Dante tried to defend his younger sister from Chaney, who was allegedly sexually assaulting the 7-year-old. That’s when Chaney, 23, retrieved a hammer, which he used to brutally beat both of the children, their aunt said.
Sacramento police said they cannot confirm the details provided by his family until the investigation is complete.
Dante was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared brain dead. Six days later, he died.
“This guy beat my grandson with a hammer. Down to his spine. They couldn’t save his brain,” Dante’s grandmother, Monique Brown, told local station Fox 40.