Pair charged in death of Cleveland boy whose remains found behind home

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

The caregivers for a 4-year-old boy whose remains were found in a garbage bag by a landscaper in the backyard of a vacant Cleveland home have been charged with murder.

Cleveland.com reports 31-year-old Joanne Vega and her husband, 36-year-old Romaine Tolbert, were also indicted Tuesday on kidnapping, gross abuse of a corpse and other charges.

Eliazar Ruiz’s body was found in September 2017. He wasn’t identified until last January after his incarcerated mother saw a forensic sketch of the boy’s face on television news.

His identify was confirmed through DNA. It hasn’t been determined how he died.

The mother placed Eliazar in the care of Vega and Tolbert in 2015.

Online court records don’t indicate whether Vega and Tolbert have attorneys.