A Las Vegas Elementary Schoolgirl Handed Her Teacher a Note. Then, Her 4-Year-Old Brother Was Found Dead in a Freezer.

A Las Vegas accused of killing the 4-year-old son of his girlfriend and then stashing the victim's body in a freezer will now face trial later this spring, according to a report.

On Feb. 22, 2022, an elementary school student approached her teacher with a note, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Ray Spencer said at the time, KVVU-TV reported.

The schoolgirl’s mother wrote that she was being held against her will and she assumed her second child, later identified as Mason Dominguez, was dead and she didn’t know his whereabouts.

The teacher contacted authorities, and officers surveilled the woman’s home. Around 10 a.m., Spencer said, the officers spotted the woman and her 37-year-old live-in boyfriend, Brandon Toseland, leaving the residence.

Police detained Toseland. The mother claimed Toseland was abusive and she had not seen her son since Dec. 11, 2022, Spencer said.

Toseland, she told police, is not her children’s father, and he forbid her from entering the garage or leaving their home.

The same day, homicide detectives secured a warrant and found the missing boy’s body in the freezer. Authorities said they believe the child died in December 2022, according to KVVU-TV.

Toseland faces charges of kidnapping and murder, Spencer said.

“My mind is blown and I really feel for that mother and that child you had to bring a note to school,” neighbor Ebonie Washington told KLAS. “It's really surprising and heartbreaking at the same time as a mother.”

Toseland pleaded not guilty to a count of murder, six counts of child abuse, three counts of kidnapping, and two counts of battery-strangulation.

His trial, originally set for the end of last year, will now begin in May, according to KSNV.