Sister of Dead 2-Year-Old Will Live With Father

One week after her 2-year-old brother was found dead in Mission Viejo, the sister of Cecil “C.T.” Turner was released from a children’s shelter to her father’s custody after a closed hearing Wednesday in which a judge agreed with social workers that he is a fit parent.

Maxwell Turner, 27, later joined his 4-year-old daughter, Bryttnie, at an undisclosed location.

Judge Richard Toohey ruled Wednesday that Edith Marie Wu and Turner should have joint custody of their child, who will live with her father in Noblesville, Ind. Wu is allowed supervised visits, according to her attorney, Lloyd Freeberg.

Bryttnie, who will turn 5 Saturday, was placed in the children’s shelter after two El Toro Marines found the body of her brother a few hundred yards from the family’s home. Investigators sequestered the boy’s mother and stepfather for questioning and later released the couple without filing charges.

An autopsy failed to determine how the boy died, and detectives are awaiting toxicological results while they determine whether a crime was committed.