“It’s a rough decision and I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life,” is how 27-year old Ashley Makuhan described her choice to leave her young son in the care of a friend.
On Tuesday she granted an exclusive interview to Channel 3 News from the Northeast Reintegration Center in Cleveland.
Makuhan is serving an 18-month sentence on drug charges. Before she began, she agreed to leave her son, 4-year old-Eliazar Ruiz, in the care of his godmother who she knew since childhood.
“I trusted her,” Makuhan said. “She’s always been a good mother, I would’ve never picked her for my son if I would’ve ever thought that something like this would happen.”
Late last year, a contractor clearing out brush found the boy’s skeleton in a plastic bag beside a garage on Longmead Avenue on Cleveland’s west side.
The discovery was a mystery, since no children were reported missing who fit the victim’s description.
An artist made a sketch and in January, Makuhan recognized her son. A DNA test confirmed the match.
Despite her attempts, Makuhan said she has had no contact with her friend since before her sentence and assumed it was her way of protecting Eliazar.
“It made me feel like ‘maybe she wants you to have your life together,’ she said, adding that her friend did once live in the Longmead area.
So far, police have not made arrests or named suspects in the case. Makuhan is scheduled to be released on March 31st.
At one point, she said her mother tried reporting the boy missing, but could not do so since her friend had been given permission to watch the child.