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Mother arrested in connection with Weaver St. toddler death

A second person has been charged in connection with death of a 2 year old on Weaver Street Tuesday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The mother of a two-year-old boy is now charged in connection with his death.

Keona Owens, 22, of Buffalo, was arrested Thursday evening and charged with manslaughter in the death of her son, Xavion Hazzard. Owens was arraigned in Buffalo City Court Friday morning before Judge Barbara Johnson-Lee.

Owens' boyfriend, Bashar Hall, 23, was charged with manslaughter earlier this week.

The two year old was not Hall's son, but Owens and Hall have two other children together. The one-year-old and two-month-old girls were removed from the home. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said the younger children are in safe hands but wouldn't say who has current custody of them.

An autopsy shows that Hazzard died of blunt force trauma. Police responded to the family's Weaver Street home in Kaisertown on Tuesday afternoon.

According to police and prosecutors, Hall allegedly beat and shook the boy. He later died at Oishei Children's Hospital. Flynn wouldn't comment specifically on the mother's alleged role or what she said to detectives.

Flynn had the following response when asked if Owens had physical contact with the boy or if she was charged for failing to intervene:

"The allegation is that she was charged with manslaughter in the first degree for the shaking and beating of the child. That's on the charge sheet right there," said Flynn. Then he added, "If you're going to make a pecking order of what the worst crimes are, I think you can make an argument that a mother killing her child would be the top of that list."

Flynn also declined to comment on any prior police response to the home or prior criminal history.

Both Owens and Hall remain jailed on $500,000 bail. Hall is due back in court for a felony hearing on July 23. Owens has a felony hearing scheduled for July 25.

Flynn said his office will consider upping the charges against Owens and Hall to murder after prosecutors further review medical records and the final autopsy report.

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