MARCH AGAINST ABUSE PLANNED EVENT PROMPTED BY CHILD'S DEATH.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A Palmdale grandmother whose 5-year-old grandson was beaten to death is turning her grief into action, organizing a march to raise awareness about child abuse.

The march will be held at 5 p.m. April 13 starting in front of the Lowe's store at 10th Street West and Avenue K and ending at Lancaster City Park.

"We are trying to bring more awareness about child abuse into our community," said 49-year-old Annie Ray. "The more aware people are, we can prevent such a tragedy that happened to my grandson Darion."

Darion Wheat of Rosamond died in August.

The child's mother's boyfriend and the boyfriend's mother were ordered last week by a Kern County Superior Court judge to stand trial on charges relating to the 5-year-old's beating death.

George "Bleu" Tyler, 27, is charged with murder and child abuse. His mother, Mavis Watson, 45, of Lake Los Angeles, is facing a count of aiding after a felony.

Darion's mother, Dionna Wheat, 22, has been charged with felony child endangerment and being an accessory after a felony. She is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in May.

All three have pleaded not guilty. Tyler remained in custody, while Watson and Dionna Wheat were free after posting bail.

Darion's father, Darnell Wheat, filed a $5 million wrongful death claim against Los Angeles County in February, alleging that the Department of Children and Family Services was negligent in the handling of the family's case, contributing to the child's death.

Authorities said Dionna Wheat originally told them that Darion died after she accidentally ran over him with her car in their Rosamond driveway.

But an autopsy indicated Darion died from blunt-force trauma inconsistent with being run over by a car, Kern County officials said.

Two months before his death, Darion visited Annie Ray and reportedly told his grandmother that he was afraid of his mother's boyfriend. The grandmother said she found bruises on Darion's 4-year-old brother and called authorities, but social workers allowed the boys and a toddler brother and infant sister to return to their mother.

Investigators believe Darion was beaten to death Aug. 9, 2006, in his mother's home. Ray had had custody of the older children until December 2005.

Tyler had been under a court order to stay away from Darion and the two younger boys, though not the 8-month-old girl, who is his daughter, a Department of Children and Family Services report shows.

Ray said in an interview with the Daily News that she was told the court order was issued when the children were returned to their mother because Tyler refused to be fingerprinted for a background check.

Ray said a social worker told her the order had not been enforced because it was never served on Tyler. Social workers also told her visits to the Buckwheat Avenue home in Rosamond showed no signs a man was living there, she said.

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