HE WAS FINALLY BACK WITH HIS MOTHER… BUT NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO GROW UP..! – A TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY WAS ALLEGEDLY K!LLED BY HIS BIOLOGICAL MOTHER JUST MONTHS AFTER BEING RETURNED TO HER CARE.
A two-year-old boy who was fostered for the first nine months of his life was murdered by his biological mother shortly after he was returned to her care, prosecutors said.
Legend Lee died in November last year after suffering severe burns, according to detectives. His mother is accused of using ‘scalding hot water’ to cause the burns, according to a felony complaint reviewed by the Daily Mail.
The mom, Rayzhanna Greenhoward, a 28-year-old mother of four, was accused on Monday of killing her second-youngest son at their home in Lancaster, a California city just north of Los Angeles.
Greenhoward was charged with murder, assault on a child causing death, and child abuse resulting in death after an eight-month investigation by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, police said.
The investigation began in late November 2025 after the Kern County Medical Examiner’s Office notified the sheriff’s department about Lee’s death, which police described as ‘suspicious.’
Over the course of the investigation, detectives conducted several interviews and obtained facts about the case that enabled them to obtain a warrant for Greenhoward’s arrest, which they executed on July 9.
That day, the mother was booked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, where she is being held on a $2 million bond, according to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department records.
Yolanda Ramsey, the woman who fostered Lee for nine months, told ABC7 she was heartbroken when she heard the toddler had died.
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Two-year-old Legend Lee died in November of Last Year after suffering severe burns. He spent the first nine months of his life in foster care
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Lee was returned to the custody of his biological mother shortly before he died. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department believes he was murdered by his mother
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Lee’s mother, 28-year-old Rayzhanna Greenhoward, was charged with the toddler’s murder and other counts on Monday
‘I couldn’t believe it. I had to see his face first because that little bottom lip of his was just everything,’ Ramsey said.
The foster mother said she picked the boy up from the hospital just ten days after she was born.
Ramsey said she viewed the early assumption of custody as a blessing.
‘Oh my God, this is really true. You get to pick up a brand new baby and give him all the love that he needs,’ the foster mom recalled thinking.
Ramsey declined to explain why Lee was placed in her custody rather than his mother’s so soon after he was born.
She did, however, allege that the California Department of Child and Family Services likely failed the boy somewhere along the way.
‘I think it goes back to the DCFS office,’ Ramsey said. ‘It needs to be more looked at.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to DCFS for comment regarding the foster mom’s statement, as well as to ask why Lee was placed in foster care just after he was born.
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Police did not say how they suspect Lee was murdered, and it is unclear why he was placed in foster care so soon after he was born then returned to his biological mom
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Greenhoward is a mother of four, and Lee was her second-youngest. Her arraignment was rescheduled after a mental health breakdown
Greenhoward’s family are sticking by her despite the murder allegation and a GoFundMe for the toddler’s family simply says the boy died, ‘just one day before Thanksgiving, after complications following skin graft surgery.’
Raynard Greenhoward, Lee’s grandfather, told ABC7 he believes his daughter did not play a role in the toddler’s death.
‘You’re innocent until proven guilty,’ he said. ‘I’ve got faith that she didn’t do anything wrong.’
Raynard also recounted his daughter calling him in a panic on the day Lee died, telling the father that she was taking the toddler to the hospital.
Greenhoward’s arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, but a judge rescheduled the hearing for early August after explaining that the mother had a mental health breakdown.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for comment and additional details about the case.
