Two babysitters are accused of beating a little girl so badly that she was bleeding from her rectum before she died.
Kiya Moore, 21, and her boyfriend Dejon Smith, 34, have been charged with first-degree murder after Moore’s one-year-old niece, Kali Moore, was found dead.
The girl was rushed to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis around 3 a.m. Saturday and was pronounced dead at 4:01 a.m., police said.
Doctors said he had a fractured skull and neck, significant bruising on his back and rectal bleeding when they examined his body.
Further examination revealed a brain bleed, a bruised kidney, elevated liver enzymes consistent with abdominal trauma, and blood in the lungs.
Kali Moore was pronounced dead after being rushed to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis around 3 a.m. Saturday.
Kiya Moore, 21, and her boyfriend Dejon Smith, 34, have been charged with first-degree murder. Moore is the baby’s aunt.
Moore’s sister, Kyera Moore, in a series of heartbreaking Facebook posts, insisted her sister was innocent and explained the bruises and rectal bleeding.
“Please, my sister didn’t do this… my baby has birthmarks on her back that never went away and rectal bleeding is caused by constipation,” she wrote.
Kyera explained that the constipation was so severe that she used Vaseline and frequently gave Kali green vegetables to help her go to the bathroom.
“My sister hasn’t done anything, it’s just the black guy she lives with,” he insisted. Police declined to comment on his claims.
Kyera left her daughter, who turned one in June, with the couple at around 5pm on Thursday at what is believed to be their home.
Detectives found no baby food at the University Street home in Memphis, and it was unclear where the baby slept.
Moore’s sister, Kyera Moore, in a series of heartbreaking Facebook posts, insisted her sister was innocent.
Doctors said he had a fractured skull and neck, massive bruising on his back and rectal bleeding when they examined his body.
Moore and Smith gave conflicting statements to police, blaming each other for Kali’s death after they were arrested, as detailed in a charging affidavit.
Smith said she heard Moore screaming in the back room and the baby crying, and then he slammed Kali against the floor, walls and wooden furniture six to 10 times.
He told police that when he asked her what she was doing, she said it was nothing and that the baby was crying too much and making her nervous.
When Smith entered the room, he said, Moore stopped and saw that Kali was unresponsive and began performing CPR, stopping to pour cold water on her.
When Kali didn’t wake up, Moore called a family member to take her to the hospital.
Smith said Moore told him Kali was injured when she fell out of bed and hit her head on the nightstand.
Smith has two children of his own from a previous relationship, one of whom is about to start kindergarten.
Moore claimed he went out and left Smith alone with Kali and when he returned home, the baby was unresponsive and he refused to tell her what happened.
Smith said she heard Moore screaming in the back room and the baby crying, and then he slammed Kali against the floor, walls and wooden furniture six to 10 times.
Moore claimed he went out and left Smith alone with Kali and when he returned home, the baby was unresponsive and he refused to tell her what happened.
Instead, he allegedly asked her to say that she fell asleep holding Kali and that the girl fell out of bed and hit her head on the nightstand, just as he claimed she told him.
Moore agreed that she was the one who called a relative to take Kali to the hospital.
Police decided to charge them both with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect.
Kyera apparently learned of her daughter’s death later on Saturday morning when she began a series of sad posts on Facebook.
In several posts she prayed to God to kill her and let her daughter live.
“Please take me sir, please. I’ll do anything, please God, please take me,” one of them said.
“My heart, my literal heart in little human form is gone… Why, God? Please tell me why, help me understand why.
‘My reason for not giving up is gone…what am I supposed to do now?’
Kyera appeared to learn of her daughter’s death later on Saturday morning when she began a series of sad posts on Facebook.
Kyera’s brother died last month, and she posted a photo of them together on Sunday night, with the caption ‘both together now’.
Kyera’s most recent post questioned whether her daughter’s death meant she didn’t deserve her and explained how Kali kept her depression at bay.
“I swear I was great to her. I loved her with all my heart. She didn’t want or need anything from me,” he wrote.
“She knows that everyone loved her and she made everyone she came into contact with happy, I swear she was an angel and didn’t deserve this.”
Kyera’s brother died last month, and she posted a photo of them together on Sunday night, with the caption “both together now.”
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