EDENTON, N.C. (WAVY) — 10 On Your Side is learning more about the church operated out of a home in Edenton where a 2-year-old boy with autism was found dead on Friday.
CorNyeah Lindsey says a sheriff’s deputy found her son, Dinari Lindsey, upside down and unresponsive in a bucket outside the Open Arms Christian Ministries on Virginia Road near High Street.
“I want justice for my son,” she said.
Lindsey says Dinari was in the care of Effie and Cliff Beaman, who run the church from their home.
10 On Your Side is trying to learn more about the couple. In 2003, they “began providing a home with a spiritual emphasis for children and youth who were orphaned,” according to their Facebook page. The sheriff’s office tells 10 On Your Side the organization receives money from community funds to help continue their mission.
No charges have been filed in the case.
“I trusted them,” said CorNyeah Lindsey.
The organization, which is registered to Effie Beaman at her address on Virginia Road, is not recognized by the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services as a childcare facility. Their status as a nonprofit is listed as “suspended.”
CorNyeah Lindsey tells 10 On Your Side that she considered Effie and Cliff Beaman family friends. She even stayed with the Beamans for a short time after giving birth to Dinari.
Last Friday, CorNyeah Lindsey dropped her son off before she went to work.
Later that day, CorNyeah says she got a phone call letting her know her son was at the hospital. When she got there, she was greeted by a sheriff’s deputy.
“He told me [Dinari] didn’t make it and I went crazy,” she said.
“[The sheriff’s deputy] told me that he had seen an older man at the end of the driveway looking like, ‘Oh shoot. Did you see me? Or did you not see me?’ He said it looked suspicious. So he went to the man and was like, ‘What do you need?’ The man said to him ‘I need help finding a 2-year-old boy with autism.’ The deputy said he knew then and there that the story wasn’t going to add up.”
Shortly after he was found, CorNyeah Lindsey says she asked Effie Beaman what happened at the home.
“I asked them, ‘Y’all, I left Dinari in your care. How did you not miss him?’ So then she was like, ‘I was in the bathroom.’ How long does it take you to pee? The detective said the playpen was right beside the bathroom. Why didn’t she put him in the playpen? She said she didn’t know,” Lindsey said.
The Chowan County Sheriff’s Office tells 10 On Your Side they are continuing to investigate the case and that the Department of Social Services is also investigating.