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October 27, 2009

Child was reportedly abused ‘over a period of time’

By Carl Keith Greene

“It’s something you’d never believe, something you’d never think would happen,” said Will Callahan’s brother, Travis on Monday.

Travis stood outside the trailer home his brother shares with Amanda Johnson — the 21-year-old mother who was arraigned Monday on charges that she criminally abused and murdered her 23-month-old son, Stephen Carl Troy.

She was set for a pre-trial hearing on Nov. 3, and a $250,000 cash bond was set in Laurel District Court.

Stephen was taken to St. Joseph hospital in London Friday, where he was pronounced dead.

He was found unresponsive at the home of Johnson and her boyfriend on Ruby Jones Road, about three miles north of East Bernstadt. It was Callahan who called for an ambulance for the child.

A law enforcement task force, led by Kentucky State Police Det. Mark Allen, investigated the incident and arrested Johnson at the state police post at 8:40 p.m. Sunday.

According to the citation issued by the state police, witnesses and the Kentucky medical examiner said the child had been abused “over a period of time,” resulting in several bruises and two fractures of the left leg.

The child’s death, the citation states, was the result of “blunt force trauma to the stomach, as a result of physical abuse.”

Outside the home where the child died, Callahan’s mother, Rosemary, said, “We’re just so tore up at the moment we can’t say anything.”

Will didn’t come outside the home.

Asked about his condition, Callahan’s mother responded that her son is doing “the best that can be done at the moment from what the rest of us is going through right now.”

Johnson is currently being held in the Laurel County Detention Center.

Travis said that as far as the family knew, Amanda and Will “got along fine. We all thought she was the best mother.”

He continued, “You can’t say anything until you know the truth and know the facts. My brother’s a loving father and he’d never hurt a kid. He’s got two kids of his own. He’d never hurt a kid any way, even spank them.”

Stephen’s father, Michael Troy, could not be reached Monday for comment, but in a statement to WLEX-TV Sunday said, “I never thought she could do that, the way she loved that boy.” He reportedly said he had never seen Amanda abuse Stephen.

Stephen’s funeral will be at 2 p.m. at Bowling Funeral Home and he will be buried in the Locust Grove Cemetery. Friends may visit after 11 a.m. Thursday morning.

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