Memphis male and female babysitters are facing murder charges after a one-year-old girl in their care died of unspeakable injuries
Two babysitters are accused of abusing a baby girl so badly that she bled from her rectum just before she died.
Kiya Moore, 21, and her boyfriend Dejon Smith, 34, were 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 pronounced dead at 4:01 a.m., police said.
Upon examination of her body, doctors said she had a fractured skull and neck, extensive bruising to her back and rectal bleeding.
Further examination revealed that she had a brain hemorrhage, a bruised kidney, high enzymes in her liver (indicating abdominal trauma), and blood in her 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, were charged with first-degree murder. Moore is the baby’s aunt
Moore’s sister, Kyera Moore, continued to maintain her sister’s innocence in a series of heartbreaking Facebook posts, explaining the bruising and rectal bleeding.
“Please my sister didn’t do it… my baby has birthmarks on her back that won’t go away and the rectal bleeding is caused by her constipation,” she wrote.
Kyera explained that the constipation was so bad that she used Vaseline and regularly gave Kali green vegetables so she could go to the toilet.
“My sister ain’t done no s**t, that’s just the n***a she live with,” she insisted. Police declined to comment on her claims.
Kyera left her daughter, who just turned one in June, with the couple at what was believed to be her home around 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Detectives found no baby formula in the home on University Street in Memphis, and it’s unclear where the baby was sleeping.
Moore’s sister Kyera Moore has maintained her sister’s innocence in a series of heartbreaking Facebook posts
Doctors said she had a fractured skull and neck, massive bruising on her back and rectal bleeding when they examined her body
Moore and Smith gave conflicting statements to police after their arrests, blaming each other for Kali’s death, as detailed in a criminal complaint.
Smith claimed he heard Moore screaming in the back room and the baby crying, then she slammed Kali into the floor, walls and wooden furniture six to ten times.
He told police that when he asked her what she was doing, she said nothing was wrong and that the baby was crying too much and it was getting on her nerves.
When Smith entered the room, he claims Moore stopped and saw Kali unresponsive. He began CPR and poured cold water on her.
When Kali didn’t wake up, Moore called a family member to take her to the hospital.
Smith claimed that Moore told him that Kali was injured when she fell off the bed and hit her head on the nightstand.
Smith has two children from a previous relationship, one of whom will soon be starting nursery school.
Moore claimed she went outside and left Smith alone with Kali and when she returned home, the baby was unresponsive and refused to tell her what had happened.
Smith claimed he heard Moore screaming in the back room and the baby crying, and then she punched Kali six to 10 times against the floor, walls and wooden furniture.
Moore claimed she went outside and left Smith alone with Kali. When she got home, the baby was unresponsive and refused to tell her what had happened.
Instead, he allegedly told her to say that she had fallen asleep with Kali in her arms, and that the child fell out of bed and hit her head on the nightstand, just as she had told him.
Moore admitted that she was the one who called a family member to take Kali to the hospital.
Police decided to charge them both with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect.
Kyera appeared to have learned of her daughter’s death later on Saturday morning when she posted a series of sad messages on Facebook.
In several messages she begged God to kill her and let her daughter live instead.
“Please take me, Lord, please, I’ll do anything, please, God, please take me,” one of them read.
‘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 on myself is gone… what [am I] “What should I do now?”
Kyera appeared to have learned of her daughter’s death later on Saturday morning when she posted a series of sad messages on Facebook
Kyera’s brother just passed away last month, and she posted a photo of them together on Sunday night, captioning it “you guys are together now”
In her most recent post, Kyera 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 wonderful to her, I loved her with all my heart, she wanted and needed nothing,” she wrote.
“She knew she was loved by everyone and that she made everyone she came into contact with happy. I swear she was an angel and didn’t deserve this.”
Kyera’s brother only passed away last month and on Sunday night she posted a photo of them together, captioning it, “you’re together now.”