Four-year-old found beaten to death on Dallas street was kidnapped and attacked by intruder through back door, mother reveals

File image. Police have arrested an 18-year-old in connection with the killing

(Getty Images)

The mother of a 4-year-old boy found murdered on a Dallas street says he was snatched from his bed by his killer in a random attack.

Cash Gernon’s family identified him as the victim in the horrifying attack which has rocked the suburban neighborhood where his body was found.

Police said the boy suffered from wounds made by an “edged weapon” in a “violent” death before his body was found shoeless and partially clothed in the Mountain Creek neighborhood by a jogger around 6:45am on Saturday morning.

According to his mother, the boy was sleeping when the alleged kidnapper broke into the house and grabbed him.

She told a local news broadcaster said she has no idea why the alleged kidnapper targeted her son and said she did not believe that the alleged killer knew her child.

Albert Martinez, the executive assistant police chief, said the child was killed around 5am that morning.

Police arrested 18-year-old Darriynn Brown in connection with the murder.

Mr Brown was charged with kidnapping and theft on Saturday night. Law enforcement officials said they were waiting on forensic analysis results before determining whether to pursue additional charges against the 18-year-old.

Following his arrest he was held at the Dallas County Jail with a $750,000 bond.

Mr Martinez issued a statement to the media expressing his shock and offering the family his condolences.

"Unfortunately a small child was lost today in our city through a violent act and we will pursue justice to find whoever did this and bring some sort of closure, not only to the family but to the community," he said. “We are shocked, we are very angry about what has happened to this small child.”

The neighbor who found the body, Antwainese Square, told NBC she was out for a jog when she saw what she initially thought was the body of a dog lying in the street.

As she got closer, she realized the form was a child and immediately called 911.

“The baby didn’t have shoes, he didn’t have a shirt on and he was just laying there. For a kid to have to go through that, that’s just disturbing, and that’s disturbing for me to carry,” she told NBC 5.

A memorial for the boy has been set up on a street corner near where he was found.