THE mother of four-year-old Mason Dominguez has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the man accused of killing the child and hiding his body in the freezer.
Mason’s body was discovered last month inside Brandon Toseland’s, 35, garage inside a trash bag. According to detectives, the boy had been there for at least 10 weeks.
The boy’s 28-year-old mother and her two children, Mason and a seven-year-old girl, moved into Toseland’s home last March.
The mother said she was locked in a room and kept away from her children for months.
“Between March and July of 2021, Toseland began systematically alienating [the mother] from her family and friends, in small incremental, but increasing acts of domination and control,” read the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that Toseland had set up a video camera system throughout the home. He later forbade the mother from seeing her children starting in July 2021.
The mother was locked in a different room and claims that Toseland took control of her phone and social media accounts.
According to police, when Toseland was arrested last month, he had the mother’s phone in his possession.
Authorities were alerted to the home after the Clark County School District contacted them after the seven-year-old girl brought a note to her teacher.
The note read that the girl’s mother was being held against her will and that she didn’t know what happened to her younger brother.
Mason’s mother said that she had not seen her son since December 11 and was worried that he might have died.
According to court documents, Toseland told the boy’s mother that Mason got sick in early December. He said he found the boy unconscious but would not let the mother see him.
“In early December 2021, [the mother] came home from work and Mason appeared ill,” read court docs.
“[The mother] wanted to take him to the doctor, but Toseland told her that he would help him and take care of him.”
Toseland told the mother that he had locked Mason in a bedroom for several days and then announced that the boy had died. He claimed his death was an accident.
“[The mother] noticed that her son Mason often had bruises and Toseland told her that the dog knocked him over, or that he fell, frequently explaining his injuries as accidental,” read the lawsuit.
After this, the boy’s mother started writing notes to send to her daughter. According to the lawsuit, she wrote the notes while she was alone in Toseland’s car as he walked her daughter to school.
On February 20 and February 21, the mother and daughter were allowed to sleep in the same bed. That’s when the mother told her daughter that she would be giving her “important notes” to give to her teacher.
On February 22, the mother put the notes in her daughter’s sock.
Later that day, Toseland was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping after noticing a handcuff attached to the car where the mother was sitting.
Toseland is charged with two counts of kidnapping and one charge of open murder in the death of Mason Dominguez.
He was previously charged with domestic violence and had been ordered to attend counseling, according to arrest records.
Toseland is due in court in April.
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