‘I want justice to be done;’ Relatives believe mother is related to death of 3-year-old

South ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) – The family of a 3-year-old boy is searching for answers after a 3-year-old boy died in South St. Louis on Friday.

At around 2:20 p.m., police say they received a call about a child being hit by a car in the 2600 block of Rutger. Firefighters and paramedics found the child, later identified by relatives as Emmanuel Ware, who was being carried by his mother, was not conscious or breathing and had bruises all over his body.

He was taken to the hospital where he later died. No one in the family has heard from Ware’s mother Shanice Moore since Friday. Ware’s relatives say they don’t believe it was hit and run as Moore has said.

“Emmanuel was a loving, fun-loving child, always happy,” said his grandmother, Wanda Lee.

Lee said his grandson just turned three in September.

“I got a call from Shenis that the kid was hurt,” Lee said. “A human being should never be treated like this. There is no reason, and I only want justice, that’s all. I want justice to be done. It makes no sense, it’s foolish.”

Lee and other family members told News 4 that they believe Moore had something to do with Ware’s death.

“I wanted my sister to tell us the truth. I feel like I’ll never know the truth,” said Lavanda Moore, Ware’s aunt. “Tell these investigators what happened, what you saw, what was going on. He kept his family in the dark. We didn’t know what was going on. My sister painted a perfect picture.”

Police say murder and child abuse detectives are investigating. News 4 reached out to Shanice Moore for comment and did not hear back. News 4 also reached out to the police to see if any arrests had been made, but there have been no hearings yet.