A father is fighting for justice for his little boy, four years after the medical examiner ruled the child was beaten to death. Tarrant County prosecutors believe they know who is responsible but they have not been able to file charges.
Raymond Gilbert's son Khalil would have been six years old on Wednesday.
"He was an outgoing little man," Gilbert said. "He wanted to be just like me. I was somebody's superhero."
Now the only place for birthday balloons is Khalil's grave, in the Babyland IV section of the Cedar Hill Memorial Cemetery.
"It's like an emptiness," said Gilbert.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled it was a homicide by blunt force trauma to the abdomen.
"A two-year-old can be a handful but not enough to beat him to death," Gilbert said.
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Four years later no one has been charged. Documents from Child Protective Services investigators show that at the time Khalil was injured, he was with his mother and her boyfriend.
Khalil's dad had dropped him off to spend the night with the couple in their Arlington apartment complex. The next day he got a call to rush to the hospital.
"The doctor comes in and said we tried to save him but we couldn't bring him back and I'm like from what?" said Gilbert.
Khalil's mother and her boyfriend said they did not hurt the toddler and the District Attorney's Office said they can't bring charges because there are no other witnesses, no proof of who's responsible for his death.
But that's not good enough for this heartbroken father.
"Show me that our justice system ain't gonna fail me,” Gilbert said. “Not just me, my little boy. They failed him."
Raymond Gilbert says he's breaking down and can't stand another birthday with no answers for his little boy with the big brown eyes.
"Tell me the truth,” Gilbert said. “What happened to my boy?"
A year after Khalil's death, Arlington police arrested the child's mother for bruises he suffered a few weeks before he died. A Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict her. Her lawyer told NBC 5 that was the right decision because it was an accident.
