Tyler DeLeon

Tyler DeLeon: Key person

Kenda Bradford of Spokane gave birth to Tyler DeLeon on Jan. 13, 1998. She named the boy Tyrel Lee Bruce-Lassiter. A young mother who wasn’t sure she could provide for him, Bradford put Tyler up for adoption, and the state placed him at the age of 4 months in the care of Carole DeLeon. Tyler weighed only 28 pounds when he died on Jan. 13, 2005, his seventh birthday. The medical evidence showed Tyler died of dehydration.