PALM BAY, Fla. — A 12-year-old boy’s father and his girlfriend are both facing a charge of manslaughter in the child’s Palm Bay beating death.
The funeral for 12-year-old Noah Godleski will be held in his birthplace of Connecticut on Saturday.
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His mother, Melina Powell, told Channel 9 she’s both grief-stricken and angry. She said as Noah’s father and his girlfriend moved from state to state, she was pushed out of her son’s life. Now, she’s being forced to say goodbye.
Powell said when she signed over custody of her son to his father in 2013, she did it to keep their son out of Connecticut’s foster care system.
“Noah was going to do a daycare that was in a central location for both of us to be in a meeting point because we lived in two different towns in Connecticut,” Powell said. “He was found with bruises on his body.”
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What followed for Powell was a charge of risk of injury to a child, and a conviction. After she was released from prison, Noah’s father Jason Godleski and his girlfriend Samarial Dubose shut her out of Noah’s life. They’re now accused of manslaughter in Noah’s death last month.
“Sam has messages in her inbox from me every single week, messaging her: ‘Can you please contact me, I want to see my son.’”
Palm Bay police said Noah was isolated in the laundry room of his family’s Colonial Avenue residence for several days as a punishment for misbehaving.
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It’s there police believe the boy was beaten and left to die.
Investigators are now looking into the possibility of previous allegations of abuse involving Godleski and Dubose, which includes a 2020 complaint made by a teacher to DCF in Florida. The agency is researching the case now.
“I’m furious that the system failed him in multiple states,” Powell said. “I’m furious that nobody thought him being pulled out of school of school after a DCF case was closed. I don’t know why nobody thought that they should report that again. The system failed him in every single situation when he was crying for help.”
Godleski is in Brevard County Jail. His girlfriend is in custody in Connecticut. Palm Bay police are trying to expedite her extradition.
READ: Police: Girlfriend of father accused of beating son, leaving him in room to die arrested
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