What happened to Andrew?

TOLEDO, Ohio - On the day he died, 11-year-old Andrew VanHorn enjoyed his first day of vacation bible school, where he’d won an award and insisted on cleaning up a mess left by other kids.

He spent the early afternoon playing with his baby brother in the backyard, cheerfully saying goodbye to his mom, Amy Peterson, as she left for work at 3:30 p.m.

Before Amy headed out, she reminded her son that he’d need to water his beloved tomato plants and she told him she loved him.

Andrew put on the new watch he’d bought himself with his birthday money because he liked to be on time and went outside to play with a playmate who he’d had skirmishes with in the past.

They went down the street together to play in the South Toledo field near Ventura Drive and Chorus Lane, a vast open area with a cluster of trees where kids would sometimes play. They stopped at Andrew’s friends’ house to ask if they could join them, but they were grounded and couldn’t come out to play.

At 4:30p.m., when Andrew didn’t return home when he was supposed to, his stepfather, John Peterson, went looking for him. From his van, he could see Andrew in the trees and called out to him several times. When his stepson did not respond, John got out of the car, picking up speed with each step as he realized Andrew was in trouble.

He found Andrew, all alone, dead in a grove of trees. The boy was on his knees with the lower loop of a rope swing around his neck.

Unanswered questions

The question of how Andrew died on July 13 continues to haunt his family, his friends and his community. The last person who saw him alive is a child under 10 years of age with a documented history of bullying Andrew and other children. The child (name withheld by Toledo Free Press) is on record with the police saying, “Andrew said he wanted to kill himself,” but has changed subsequent testimony numerous times. The inconsistencies in the child’s accounting of what happened is wreaking havoc in a community traumatized by the loss of an 11-year-old honors student, who wanted to grow up to be a video game designer.

Andrew was on medication to help him focus better in school, but his mother Amy, a mental health nurse, refuses to believe the witness’ claim that her son wanted to take his own life.

“There were no signs. None. We even searched Andrew’s room afterwards and didn’t find anything — not even a drawing or a doodle,” indicating that he might want to harm himself, she said.

Her husband John agreed, saying Andrew was looking forward to starting middle school and had a crush on a girl in the neighborhood to whom he’d given his first valentine.

Another witness also dispels the idea that Andrew would want to end his life. Mike Keller lives directly across the street from the field where Andrew was found. The crisis unfolded as he was at a nearby neighbor’s house cutting down a tree while his wife Jeanette was gardening in the front of her home. They were the first on the scene after John discovered Andrew’s lifeless body. John screamed to Jeanette to call 911, while she yelled for Mike, who immediately began performing CPR when he saw Andrew. Toledo fire and rescue were on the scene within minutes.

Jeanette recalls greeting Andrew and his playmate when they arrived at the field when the two children came over to ask if her children could play.

“He seemed OK then,” she said.

In responding to the question of what she thinks happened to Andrew, she said “as far as I’m concerned, that [playmate who witnessed Andrew’s death] was the last person that was with him. Either they knew something, they saw something or they did something. It doesn’t look good.”

In referring to Andrew’s playmate at the scene, Mike said, “the child told the detective our children were with them and they were not. They were stuck in the house and could not go out. I don’t want to ostracize a child but, in my heart I feel this was a very grave accident or something was done to him.”

‘I wish I could have been there’

Johnnie Mae Cullars is the grandmother of the child who witnessed Andrew’s death, as well as the mother of 13 children and a foster parent who has lived in the neighborhood for years. Among the many photos of family scattered throughout the shuttered and dark living room, she said she feels sadness for Andrew’s family and has cried over the way he died. Her family also donated to the impromptu donation collection for Andrew’s family. She said her grandchild doesn’t want to talk about the incident.

“We can’t bring it up because [the child] walks out of the room,” said Johnnie Mae, expressing concern because the child is still grieving the loss of a father three years ago.

The child’s mother, Demetra Cullars, is certain that her child didn’t have anything to do with Andrew’s death and is upset by the accusation that her child was in some way responsible for what happened on that day at the field.

“I know my child didn’t have anything to do with it,” Demetra said. “My child wouldn’t be capable of that.