The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office released autopsy results this week for 5-year-old Elyjah Hearn, found dead in a Panorama City dumpster last July. Officials say the boy suffered blunt force trauma from extreme violence inflicted by his mother's boyfriend, Malik Brycson Gaddis. Gaddis faces murder charges and remains in custody.
Elyjah Hearn was discovered on July 12, 2025, naked and wrapped in a fleece throw blanket inside a dumpster in the 8200 block of Van Nuys Boulevard. The autopsy revealed broken bones, contusions, cuts, a broken jaw, a knocked-out tooth, head abrasions, a broken rib and liver lacerations. Many injuries showed signs of healing, indicating prior abuse, according to the report from the Medical Examiner's Office and police statements. The boy, who had autism, was beaten to death in an apartment about a half-mile away the previous day, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Elyjah lived with his mother, who was dating Gaddis, 21. His grandfather described him to KNBC as loving and tech-savvy despite speech delays: 'He was autistic, but that didn't slow him down. He could pick your phone up and go through it, any tablet.'
