A Memphis, Tenn., mother admitted that she used an extension cord to beat and choke her 10-year-old son, who apparently later killed himself.
Robin McKinzie told police that she used the extreme methods of punishment to discipline her son, a fourth-grader. She told officers that afterward, the boy got angry, ran into the kitchen and stabbed himself in the chest with a kitchen knife.
WREG-TV reports that Memphis police were called to a home where they found 10-year-old Jaheem McKinzie bleeding from his injuries. He was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
Alarmingly, in the last few years, the suicide rates for young black boys have skyrocketed from 1.78 to 3.47 per 1 million.
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A 2015 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 1993 and 2012, the suicide rate for black children between the ages of 5 and 11 doubled for the first time.
Robin McKinzie is charged with aggravated child abuse and endangerment and is being held on a $100,000 bond. Police say that they are still investigating to determine exactly what happened.
Read more at WREG-TV.
