The mother of Brooklyn Colbert, who was murdered by his uncle in Limerick in 2019, told the inquest into the 11-year-old's death that she believed his killer had an obsession with him.
The inquest heard that the young boy was found dead on the floor of a house in Shanabooley Road in Ballynanty on the evening of Sunday, 3 November 2019.
Patrick Dillon, of Delmage park in Moyross, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to Brooklyn's murder at the Central Criminal court in January 2021.
Sonia Aylmer said she thought Dillon wanted to kill Brooklyn so that they could go to heaven together.
She said that Dillon often referred to Brooklyn as "his king" and that they were frequently together.
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Following the hearing, Ms Aylmer said the inquest offered some closure and that she wanted to thank, in particular, the people of Limerick and the rest of the country for always remembering Brooklyn and never letting him be forgotten.
Medical evidence given at this hearing found he had suffered 27 stab wounds to his body as well as a number of head wounds after being struck with a hammer.
In her evidence to the inquest, State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said he suffered a haemorrhage and shock as a result of multiple stab wounds, which he would not have survived and that he died very rapidly.
Inspector James Ruddle, who was the first garda at the house that evening, told of finding Brooklyn dead on the blood-stained kitchen floor after he and a team of gardaí arrived.
They rushed to the house after Dillon had earlier presented himself at Henry Street Garda Station with an injured hand and admitted he had murdered his nephew with a knife.
The inquest heard that Brooklyn and Dillon had been spotted only a short time earlier that evening laughing and giggling and looking very happy together as they made their way up to the house. They had plans to go to the cinema that evening.
Coroner John McNamara described this as a very upsetting and tragic case, in which an 11-year-old boy died in the most harrowing and difficult of circumstances.
He returned a verdict of unlawful killing and that the cause of death was in line with the medical evidence.
The jury concurred with his verdict.
