Indiana Dad Gets Custody of Slain Mission Viejo Boy’s Sister

The father of the 2-year-old boy whose body was found in a Mission Viejo ravine won custody Friday of the boy’s 5-year-old sister, his former attorney said.

Maxwell Turner of Indiana had sought custody of his daughter after his son, who lived with Turner’s former wife and her husband in Mission Viejo, wandered away from their home and was later found strangled.

Bryttnie Turner, who also lived in the Mission Viejo home, went to live with her maternal grandparents in Texas after the slaying.

But Friday, a Texas judge granted custody to Turner, Orange County Deputy Public Defender Lee Blumen said.

Cecil “C.T.” Turner reportedly wandered away from home Aug. 12 while his mother slept and his stepfather was jogging. After an intensive search, his naked body was found near his home the next day.

The Orange County Coroner’s Department has determined that the boy was strangled. No suspect has been identified, and the investigation is continuing.

After a hearing, an Orange County Superior Court ruled in August that Bryttnie could live with her father, even though her mother, Marie Wu, shares custody. Wu was allowed supervised visits.

But on the day of Cecil’s wake in Texas, Maxwell Turner was handed a court order giving temporary custody of Bryttnie to Wu’s parents, Cecil and Carolyn Morrow of Austin. Under that Texas order, Turner was prohibited from having contact with his daughter.

The grandparents “were well aware of the Orange County judge giving custody to Max,” said Rich Pfeiffer, Blumen’s law clerk. “Knowing that, they still filed for custody for Bryttnie in Texas without divulging [the Orange County ruling] to the courts there.”

According to Rich Pfeiffer, Blumen’s law clerk, the Texas judge also issued sanctions Friday against the Morrows.

The Morrows and Turner could not be reached for comment Friday.