Dutch boy, 14, who lay dead in father's Belgian home for months had ketamine in system

Traces of ketamine were found on the hair of a 14-year-old Dutch boy who was found dead in his father’s home in Belgium in 2022. Jairon had been dead for two months when the police found his body. His mother, Danice, hopes that this new evidence will result in his father, Rennlhy M. (45), and five other housemates getting prosecuted for murder, and not only for culpable neglect, AD reports.

On Friday, 25 February 2022, the police in Turnout, Belgium, raided Rennhly M.’s home after Danice had reported her son missing. His father kept making up excuses for why she couldn’t talk to Jairon, and she was very worried. The police found Jairon’s body in bed. The 14-year-old boy was already in an advanced state of decomposition. It later turned out that he had been dead for two months.

None of the other people in the house - Jairon’s father, two minor brothers, and five other adults - had notified the emergency services.

The police arrested the father and other adult residents of the house, but after Jairon’s cause of death could not be established, only charged them with culpable neglect. Their defense was their faith. “We thought he would breathe again if we prayed long enough,” they told the police.

Mother Danice and lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge pushed for further investigation. “There were contradictory and false statements from the suspects,” Van Steenbrugge said. “The investigation showed that they looked up various symptoms of Jairon’s illness and still did not seek help.” The online search history also showed that they searched online for dangerous medication.

Van Steenbrugge got permisson for forensic testing of a hair sample. Experts found a lethal amount of ketamine - a fast-acting anesthetic - on the boys hair. His mother hopes that the Belgian authorities will now charge the other adults in his life with murder.

“How do I feel? Relieved,” Danice told AD. This won’t bring her son back, but hopefully, it will bring those responsible for his death to justice. “I knew from the beginning that there was more going on. I’ve been waiting for this for so long. This shows that my son did not die of illness or faith. Jairon was killed.”

The Belgian authorities will decide on the charges on October 17.