LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Angelina Foghino says she lost her son Kyron twice.
The first time was her own fault, she admits, when she lost custody years ago.
Watch the full investigation in the video player below:
“I didn’t protect him. I messed up my life,” Foghino said. “I used drugs and got addicted to drugs because of a lot of stuff going on in my life…I feel like I failed him.”
But when Kyron Kelemen died last year, according to police and prosecutors, it was at the hand of his stepmother, Elysa Kelemen, named in multiple complaints to Children’s Protective Services, warning that the 6-year-old was at risk.
“They could have removed him, they could have done anything,” Foghino said. “But all they did was just kept closing cases.”
Elysa Kelemen was on CPS’s radar years before she would be accused of murder. In 2020, records show there had been three separate allegations made against her that would all be denied.
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By 2023, CPS had received multiple complaints naming Elysa and her stepson Kyron.
In September of that year, the agency was warned that Kyron came to school “with bruises all over his face.” It was reported that he had one “black eye” and another eye that was “bloodshot red.”
Kyron’s “whole face is still bruised,” the complaint read, and there were “bruises on his chest” and “in the middle of his rib cage.” The complaint was not substantiated.
Because Kyron was her biological son, Foghino was notified about the bruises found at school, she said, along with other CPS complaints.
In October, another allegation claimed Kyron was observed with “a face full of bruises and two broken blood vessels in both eyes.” Kyron’s father was suspected this time, records show, and the complaint was not substantiated.
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In November of that year came another warning to CPS, alleging that “Elysa is physically abusing (Kyron),” it said, adding that there were scratches on his face. “This is a reoccurring thing.”
Foghino said she was worried by the pattern of allegations.
“I just wanted to know what was going on,” she said. “But all I got answers of: they closed the case and nothing was ever getting done.”
At least the third complaint naming Elysa warned: “Kyron has been getting hit frequently” by both his father “and Elysa.” The “school noticed…bruises and injuries.”
It was believed Kyron was taken out of school, the complaint says, “to cover up the bruises and abuse.”
After CPS alerted her, records show Angelina contacted Elysa herself, asking over Facebook Messenger: “why…are you beating my son?”…“CPS told me what u did.”
Elysa denied abusing anyone.
“With all these allegations,” Foghino said, “we were hoping they would at least remove him.”
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But CPS didn’t. Records show Kyron was never removed, and three weeks after the final complaint was closed, police would be called to a motel in Lansing where Elysa and her stepson were living.
Kelemen would later tell CPS that while Kyron was doing his homework, he appeared lethargic, then suddenly started vomiting. Kyron would be rushed to the hospital, where he would be pronounced dead.
Police and doctors saw evidence of a more sinister explanation than Elysa Kelemen initially provided, records show.
Under oath, a detective with the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office disclosed that Kryon had bruises on his face, knees, arms, legs, knees and hip.
Eventually, according to police, Elysa would admit to her role in Kyron’s death, telling officers she got upset after he knocked over her laptop, saying that she “came down” on his stomach with her knee.
The cause of death, the medical examiner ruled, was blunt force injuries of the abdomen, a homicide. Elysa would be charged with Kyron's murder.
One of Elysa’s former friends, Stephanie Tlajonick, took the stand to testify against her, saying she sometimes spoke ill of her stepson.
“She just told me that he had a speech impediment, couldn’t really understand him, she was sick of taking care of him and that he was stupid,” Taljonick said, adding that Kelemen “did not like” Kyron.”
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And while police were investigating Kyron’s death, they would learn he was not the only child to die under Elysa’s care. Four years earlier, her own son, Carter Krammer, died suddenly.
In 2020, Elysa reported finding her four-year-old son unresponsive after she got out of the shower.
She would tell Flint Police he’d been sick at points during the previous month. Officers who responded to the scene found “no visible injuries or bruises” on Krammer, and no charges were ever filed.
After an eight-month investigation, CPS found “no evidence of abuse/neglect” and closed the case.
But the medical examiner could never figure out a cause and manner of death for Carter: both were listed as "undetermined."
After Kyron died last year, his father, Thomas Krammer, was contacted by Flint Police.
“I got a call saying my name is Maria Reed, a detective for the city of Flint, and I’m going to be investigating your son’s death,” Krammer recalled.
“I just want some closure. I want to know why my son is not here," he said.
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The investigation into Carter’s death remains open, according to Flint Police. Elysa Kelemen has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and no one has been identified as a suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, in the murder case of her stepson Kyron, she’s next due in court in December.
In a statement, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services—which oversees CPS— called Kyron’s death “a profound tragedy,” adding that they “find reassurance in knowing that the person responsible for the death…is being held fully accountable under the law.
Citing privacy laws, they did not comment on the multiple complaints CPS received naming Kyron in the months before his death.
“They failed my son,” said Kyron’s mother, Angelina Foghino. “I have no doubt in my mind that they failed my son.”
Kelemen’s attorney did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails seeking comment for this story.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.