Family, Friends Want Slain Boy 'Back' In Connecticut For Funeral

VERNON, CT — Friends and family members of a 12-year-old boy killed in Florida are trying to raise funds to bring him back to Connecticut for a final resting place.

A Go-Fund-Me account was posted Tuesday, and the Burke-Fortin Funeral Home in Vernon has taken over the arrangements. See the full obituary here. Several relatives with ties to Vernon and Ellington are mentioned.

The goal of the Go-Fund-Me is to raise $20,000 for expenses and, as of Tuesday afternoon, a total of $3,175 had been raised.

The organizers of the Go-Fun-Me said family members, "would like nothing more than to have a headstone for him, and a proper funeral. His life was taken too soon but we will make sure he is not forgotten."

Click here to see the Go-Fund-Me account.

A woman was arrested on an extradition warrant in Mansfield Friday as part of an investigation into the death of her 12-year-old stepchild in Florida. — Noah Godleski — state police said.

According to the warrant, Samarial Dubose, 30, of Palm Bay, FL, was taken into custody at about 6 a.m. at a residence in Mansfield. Palm Bay police had contacted Connecticut State Police and asked them to check on Dubose and her three children at the home on River Road, according to the warrant.

A few days earlier, the child of a man identified by authorities as Dubose's boyfriend, Jason Godleski, was found dead at their Florida home. Godleski, was arrested and is considered "a person of interest" in the child's death, according to the warrant.

According t0 the warrant, before his arrest, Godleski drove Dubose and three children to a gas station in Connecticut and then drove back to Florida. After Godleski was taken into custody, investigators determined Dubose was also involved in the Florida death, according to a warrant.

Records show Florida police then secured an arrest warrant for Dubose for aggravated manslaughter of a child and failure to report a death. Connecticut State Police then obtained an extradition warrant for Dubose and took her into custody in Mansfield.

Dubose was still listed at being in custody in Connecticut Monday on a $500,000 bond.