The three women charged with murdering 7-year-old William Evans at a home on Madison Road in Oakley each pleaded not guilty Saturday, Aug. 8, to murder and child endangering charges, as the boy's grandmother publicly described how he was kept from his family for the last nine months of his life.

Kaitlin Evans, 38, William's mother; Nessa Keany, 23; and Kirby Rankin, 33, are each being held on $1.1 million bonds. Prosecutors say the three lived together and co-parented William at the 2800 block of Madison Road, as Local 12 reported.

William's grandmother Gina Ellis spoke publicly Saturday, calling the defendants "three kidnappers." She said William had autism and ADHD and that she was cut off from him for the final nine months of his life.

"Willie was my life. I trusted you to care for him," Tara Ellis, identified by Gina Ellis as William's other biological parent, told the defendants in Hamilton County court. "They kept him from me for the past nine months over lies."

As we reported Friday, police found William dead and duct-taped in a closet on Thursday, Aug. 6, after Kaitlin Evans appeared at a nearby urgent care claiming someone was trying to kill her and that her son had been kidnapped. A detective with 21 years of experience testified at the Friday, Aug. 7, arraignment that the case is "probably one of the most disturbing examples of child abuse" he has ever witnessed, describing water torture, burn injuries and the boy being immobilized with duct tape.

The prosecutor noted all three women took their dog to a veterinarian the day before William's death, leaving the 7-year-old home alone.

Rankin disclosed her own involvement in what court records describe as a "prolonged child abuse incident" and implicated Evans and Keany as "active participants," according to WCPO's arraignment coverage. A judge ordered a competency hearing for Rankin in early September. Keany's attorney told the court she attempted to treat William after he was injured by someone else in the home, and that her charges stem from failing to act or report the abuse.

Gina Ellis described a boy who loved animals, building castles, cherry cordial ice cream and trips to the zoo. She and her husband were "Gigi" and "Pops." She picked William up from school on Tuesdays and called him "Sweet William."

William's paternal grandparents, Mike and Tina Evans, told WLWT that William spent every Friday and most Saturdays with them until about six weeks before his death, when his mother and her partners refused to let them see him. The last time they saw him, he had a bruise on his shoulder. Both sets of grandparents had hired a private investigator and met with an attorney on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Mike Evans rented a car to stake out the Madison Road home on Thursday and arrived to find police cars already there.

Hamilton County Developmental Disabilities Services Superintendent Leia Snyder confirmed Friday, Aug. 7, that her agency has no record of William. State Rep. Phil Plummer said Friday, Aug. 7, he is working on legislation to require children's services agencies and law enforcement to share information across county lines.

The Hamilton County Coroner's Office said the official cause of death will be released the week of Aug. 11. A grand jury has approximately 10 days to decide whether the case proceeds to trial, placing the deadline around Aug. 18.