SAGINAW, MI — The Saginaw boy who died March 1 had burns covering a fifth of his body, reveals a neglect/abuse petition that asserts Elijah Dillard's 7-year-old sister also bore the marks of past burns and bruises.

The children's mother, Mio Campbell, told authorities that she tried to intervene in abuse against the siblings by her husband, Aki Dillard, and was threatened, states a neglect/abuse petition filed Feb. 28, the day after Elijah was removed from their home in cardiac arrest. She also reported she too was a victim of abuse and intimidation.

A petition seeks an end to the parental rights of Dillard and Campbell for the three other children who lived in the home, girls ages 7 months, 2 and 7 years old. Dillard and Campbell will have to wait to learn if they will lose parental rights over the three sisters of 6-year-old Elijah.

Both parents are jailed in connection with Elijah's death. Earlier March 11, the pair waived the right to a preliminary hearing within 14 days of their arraignment.

At an afternoon hearing the same day, Saginaw County Probate Referee Dennis M. Grimaldi postponed parental rights proceedings to allow time to seek the biological father of Dillard's 7-year-old sister.

Campbell, 30, wearing an orange jumpsuit with her hair in one long braid down her back, was transported to the Saginaw County Juvenile Detention Center for the hearing. Her husband, Dillard, also wearing an orange jumpsuit, attended via video conference.

Mobile Medical Response workers transported Elijah, who was in a state of cardiac arrest, from the family's home at 1812 Ames on Saginaw's West Side to Covenant HealthCare. Because of the boy's condition, Police were called to the family's home at 12:50 p.m. Feb. 27, the petition states. Elijah appeared to be suffering from head trauma and burns.

Doctors identified bleeding on Elijah's brain, and surgery was performed to remove a retroperitoneal hematoma from his lower back. He was placed on life support and was not expected to live, the document shows. He died in Hurley Medical Center in Flint, where he had been transferred.

Child Protective Services Investigator Michelle M. Kendall filed the neglect/abuse petition on Feb. 28 — one day after Elijah was found in the Ames street home.

Among assertions in the document:

Prosecutors on March 4 filed first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, torture, and first-degree child abuse charges against 39-year-old Dillard. He is jailed without bond.

Campbell, 30, faces a child abuse count and is jailed on a $5 million bond.

Dillard and Campbell married Jan. 9, 2011, in St. Clair County, Ill. At the time, Campbell had Elijah and a daughter, both from previous relationships, in her custody. An affidavit of parentage was signed for Dillard to become Elijah’s legal father, which was reflected on a certificate of vital records introduced at the hearing by Kendall.

Though Dillard legally became Elijah’s father, the father of Campbell’s daughter would not agree to allow Dillard to become her legal father, Campbell said.

Grimaldi asked Campbell if she asked her daughter’s father to relinquish his rights.

“I asked him to voluntarily take his name off my daughter so she can be adopted,” Campbell said. “He said, ‘I’m not going to do nothing.’”

Dillard, 39, sat quietly during the proceedings, answering “yes sir” when asked if he could hear clearly and if he understood when the new court date was.

The hearing was adjourned until 2 p.m. March 25 so that officials can try to locate the daughter’s father.

Bob Johnson is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact him at 989-395-3295, by email at

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