MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - Two women from central Ohio have been charged with murder in connection with the death of a young boy, after he and his brother were found badly beaten at a southwest Ohio motel this week. A third central Ohio woman who was with them also has been charged in connection with the boys' injuries.

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio � Two women from central Ohio have been charged with murder in connection with the death of a young boy, after he and his brother were found badly beaten at a southwest Ohio motel this week.

A third central Ohio woman who was with them also has been charged in connection with the boys' injuries.

Theresa Hawkins-Stephens, 26, the mother of the two boys, and her friend, Rachel Bostian, 29, were each charged with murder on Friday. Bostian's mother, Ramona Bostian, 56, was charged with assault and endangering children. The three had been staying temporarily at a Middletown motel with the boys. Middletown is about an hour and a half southwest of Columbus.

Alexander N. Stephens, 5, and his brother, Damyan M. Stephens, 6, were found so badly beaten at the motel that emergency responders were left in tears, the Middletown newspaper reported. Alexander died on Friday; his brother, authorities say, will survive his injuries.

Hawkins-Stephens is from Reynoldsburg, her Facebook page says, and the Bostian women are from the Buckeye Lake area. Middletown Municipal Court records did not list specific home addresses for the women, but Middletown police Maj. Mark Hoffman said they all are from Licking County.

He said they had traveled to Middletown to look for work.

Police said in a complaint that Alexander had been bound for about 22 hours in a wooded area and struck on his head and body, the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported. The women reportedly had been camping there with the boys for several days, until they were given a voucher from a social-services agency to stay at the Parkway Inn, the newspaper reported.

Investigators have said that the boys were wrapped in sheets and beaten after one took food he wasn't allowed to have, said Hoffman, who called the case "horrific." He told the newspaper it was unclear whether an object was used to beat the boys.

The case came to light on Wednesday, after paramedics responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive child in a motel room. They found Alexander with life-threatening injuries. Damyan, police said, wasn't mentioned by the women but then was found seriously hurt, hidden under blankets in a bed.

In the 911 call, Rachel Bostian told the dispatcher that the 5-year-old boy had escaped their tent while they were camping, disappeared for days and got "messed up" by three other boys and that the women didn't initially realize how badly he was hurt.

Hawkins-Stephens and Rachel Bostian were charged Wednesday with two counts each of felonious assault and endangering children, then charged with murder when Alexander died after being taken off life-support on Friday. A judge set each woman's bond at $1 million. Ramona Bostian's bond is $500,000. All three were in the Middletown City Jail late Friday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

mlane@dispatch.com

@MaryBethLane1