Philadelphia police find 12-year-old boy dead in dumpster

The Philadelphia Police Department announced Thursday the identity of a 12-year-old boy found dead in a dumpster last week in West Philadelphia. The boy appeared to have a gunshot wound in his head, police said.

Authorities identified the boy as Hezekiah Bernard. Police ruled the case a homicide the day after he was pronounced dead.

At a news conference Thursday, Ernest Ransom, a staff inspector with the Philadelphia Police Department's Homicide Unit, said investigators believed the boy was dead between 24 and 36 hours before he was discovered, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The boy had not been reported missing, he said.

What happened?

On Aug. 22, a Philadelphia Housing Authority employee picked up a dumpster and housed it in a Philadelphia Housing Authority facility overnight, Ransom said, according to WHYY PBS.

The next day, the same Philadelphia Housing Authority worker was driving to pick up trash when he overturned the dumpster that held the boy's remains, including his head wrapped in plastic wrap, Ransom said.

"During the drive, the container overturned and the remains of a male were observed inside that container," said Ransom.

Cpl. Jasmine Reilly, a spokesperson for the police department, said officers responded to a radio call and were met by sanitation workers who directed them to the body inside the trash can on the rear of a dump truck.

After medics arrived on the scene, they "pronounced the male dead at 10:26 am" and took the boy to a medical examiner's office, Reilly said.

A day later, "a comprehensive post-examination was conducted on the decedent’s remain and the manner of death was ruled a homicide," said Reilly.

What's next in the case?

The police department is working with its homicide unit on the "active and ongoing" investigation, said Reilly.

During the news conference, Ransom said the department was still unclear about what happened in the case, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

“We feel like there’s some sense of justice that needs to be served," Ransom said at the news conference, according to WHYY PBS.

Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @kaylajjimenez.