Former college basketball star accused by police of killing child and hiding body in freezer for years

‘He basically cursed me out and was upon me, and my youngest son stepped in between us,’ father says of last interaction with accused son

Kassceen Lazane Weaver and Dina Dyann Weaver were arrested in June but released on bond (Chesterfield County Police Department)

A former college basketball player has been accused of killing his young son and hiding his body in a garage freezer for at least two and a half years.

Major Michael Louth of the Chesterfield County Police Department told The Daily Beast that Virginia law enforcement got a tip last May that a child’s body had been hidden in a freezer in a home in Midlothian, west of the state capital Richmond.

Police found the remains of Eliel Adon Weaver – known as Adon to his family – as they searched the home. Law enforcement has said he was younger than five years old when he died.

Adon’s body was discovered in a bag inside a plastic container in one of several freezers in the garage. He was covered in adult clothes and a sheet and had been tied up using twine, with a strong smell emanating from the freezer.

While a cause of death has not been publicly determined, the boy’s parents – Kassceen Lazane Weaver, 49, and Dina Dyann Weaver, 48 – were arrested in June and charged with conspiracy to conceal a body and failing to render aid to a child.

Kassceen Weaver was also charged with domestic assault and malicious wounding. The parents were released on bond soon after their arrests.

Last Friday, Mr Weaver was handed three additional charges: felony murder, aggravated malicious wounding, and felony child abuse and neglect.

His own father, John Weaver, hasn’t seen his son since 2012 but recently told The Daily Beast that he appeared to change emotionally after an interaction with his mother on her death bed. Jacqueline Weaver was 69 years old when she died from brain cancer in Chicago, Illinois.

“When Kass came around, she had a negative reaction,” John Weaver told the outlet. “We don’t know whether that was just because she was in pain, or what it was. I have no idea what happened. We didn’t understand what that negative reaction was.”

The 79-year-old father told The Daily Beast that Kassceen Weaver grew angry following an argument involving the parents.

“When he was at the hospital, he basically cursed me out and was upon me, and my youngest son stepped in between us,” Mr Weaver said.

They haven’t spoken to each other since.

“When I did find out [about Adon’s murder], I called my [other] son and daughter, and naturally, I was feeling bad,” Mr Weaver said. “It runs through any parent’s mind, ‘Did I do something wrong? What did I do?’ I always had my son’s best interests at heart, so I don’t know.”

Kassceen Weaver played basketball at the University of Richmond before heading to the Netherlands for a professional career.

“I’ve always had confidence in my game and a good work ethic,” he said in a 1995 interview with The Chicago Tribune. “That could take me a long way. I think those same attributes will help me in the business world.”

He worked in finance after moving back to the US.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that court documents revealed that the brother of Dina Weaver called law enforcement on 4 May and said she was “in a domestic violence situation”.

The documents state that Ms Weaver alleged that Kassceen Weaver had on several occasions used an electrical cord to restrain her and then burned her with a curling iron. She reportedly wasn’t permitted to have her own cell phone or car and told her brother that she had a “deceased son” who had died two years previously.

Investigators found “extensive written documents” that “showed a detailed history of grooming and manipulative behaviour from Kassceen, detailing how and what Dina was allowed to do,” legal filings state.

Another child was removed from the home, which Dina Weaver purchased in 1999, and placed in foster care.

John Weaver told The Daily Beast that he only met his son’s wife a few times before Kassceen Weaver ended their relationship.

“When my wife was living, they did come to visit once or twice and that was the extent of it,” he said. “We never got close to Dina, it was like they were on an island or something. My wife made a comment like, ‘What is it? Do they think that we’re going to eat her up or something?’ It was like he didn’t want to leave Dina alone with me and my wife.”

A resident told WRIC that Ms Weaver was “often” seen in the area with a black eye. Another neighbour told the local TV station that Kassceen seemed to be controlling her, driving her to her job as a pharmacist at Rite Aid, and picking her up afterwards.

“We’re all feeling a sense of guilt for not reaching out to Dina,” another resident told WTVR. “What did we not know? How could we have helped her?”

The Independent has reached out to Mr Weaver’s lawyer, Ali Amirshahi, for comment.