Mom Bound, Set 4-Year-Old Son On Fire: Police

MILWAUKEE, WI — A woman bound her 4-year-old son and set him on fire, police said. Police investigators say that the woman also researched how to kill a cannibal prior to the alleged attack.

Amelia Distasio is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on first-degree intentional homicide with a $350,000 cash bond. If convicted, Distasio could be sentenced to life in prison.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee Fire Department responded to a report of smoke on the 1700 block of W. Grant St. on Sept. 28. When the fire department forced entry into the apartment unit, a firefighter saw what he initially thought was clothes burning in a bathtub. The firefighter took a closer look and discovered a child, the complaint stated.

Police investigators said the 4-year-old boy's hands were tied at his side by belts wrapped around his arms and waist. Police also said the child had a plastic garbage bag over his head as well as a charred layer of an unknown material over his head, according to the complaint.

A witness told police that the mother, later identified as Distasio, had jumped from the open apartment window and was on the street. The witness told police she looked "frazzled" as she ran alongside the witness' vehicle before running through some yards. Moments later, the witness said, fire trucks began arriving at the apartment, according to reports.

Milwaukee police later that morning found Distasio and took her into custody. Police also searched her apartment.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators found a cell phone in her apartment listed to her name. When investigators searched her phone for evidence, they found three Google searches for “canabsls due,” “how do canabals die” and “how to kill a canabal.” The online searches were reportedly made prior to the fire call.

The criminal complaint further documents Distasio's apparent cell phone usage before the suspected homicide. According to records, the cell phone accessed a message board that was dedicated to an online game which is billed online as a horror survival game in which players fight cannibals. The message board accessed by this phone detailed the ways to kill cannibals within the game.

Investigators reported that the message board recommended that the first way to combat a cannibal was to “Kill it with fire!” Additionally, the game message board discussed how in the video game, cannibals often “like to bath in oil,” according to reports listed in the criminal complaint.

In the complaint, investigators determined the cell phone messages were relevant to the investigation, based on the physical evidence they found in the bathroom during their search.

Image via the Milwaukee County Jail