8-year-old found dead in his home, mother charged with obstruction of justice

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WBNS) – Police in Columbus, Ohio, are searching for a mother after her 8-year-old son was found dead Friday night.

Police said 32-year-old LaShanda Wilder reported her son, Martonio, missing Friday afternoon and said she hadn’t seen him since the night before.

The boy was found dead inside the home hours later, but it’s not clear how he died.

Police said they are treating the death of 8-year-old Martonio Wilder as suspicious. The boy was found dead in his home hours after his mother reported him missing.(Columbia Division of Police via X)

An Amber Alert was issued for Wilder and her two other young sons, who were later found safe.

The whereabouts of Wilder and her partner Johnna Lowe are unknown, but police said they are not naming her as a suspect at this time.

“We don’t know exactly the manner of that,” Deputy Chief Smith Weir, with the Columbus Division of Police, said. “We are treating this as a suspicious death, but at this time we can’t say that anybody’s a suspect. Although obviously we do want to talk to them.”

Police also said they have charged Wilder and Lowe with obstruction of justice in connection with the case.