Father Is Awarded Custody of Sister of Dead Mission Viejo Boy

A Juvenile Court judge decided Friday that the father of a Mission Viejo toddler found dead near a steep ravine should have custody of the boy’s 4-year-old sister, who has spent the last four days in a children’s shelter.

Investigators are trying to determine how 2-year-old Cecil “C.T.” Turner died. On Friday, they returned to the home of the boy’s mother and stepfather seeking evidence.

The couple reported C.T. missing Monday morning, saying he apparently wandered away when the stepfather went jogging.

Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said coroner’s investigators have determined the approximate time that C.T. died, but would not disclose it.

The boy’s death is being treated as a homicide, although authorities said they still don’t know whether a crime was committed. Investigators have repeatedly questioned Edith Marie Wu, the boy’s mother, and her husband, Feilong Wu, a championship diver from China.

“They are not ruled out as suspects should there turn out to be a crime,” Wilkerson said.

Attorney Lloyd Freeberg, who is representing Feilong Wu, said the stepfather is anxious to assist investigators. “[The Wus] have nothing to hide,” Freeberg said.

C.T.’s body was found Tuesday afternoon near the family’s apartment and down a steep slope near Oso Creek. Authorities have asked anyone who may have seen the toddler Monday to call the Sheriff’s Department, but so far no witnesses have been found, Wilkerson said.

The boy’s mother said he vanished about 8 a.m. while she was sleeping and Wu was jogging.

The children’s biological father, Maxwell Turner, 27, of Indiana, went to court Friday seeking custody of daughter Bryttnie.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey granted the request. Social workers will review whether Turner is a suitable parent.