Kiya Moore and Dejon Smith, Memphis, TN, babysitting couple charged with 1 year old girl, Kali Moore’s murder and child abuse as boyfriend and girlfriend blame each other for the child’s death.
A babysitter couple in Tennessee have been charged with first-degree murder after a 1-year-old girl died under their care after suffering egregious child abuse.
Kiya Moore, 21, and Dejon Smith, 34, were charged with first-degree murder after Moore’s one-year-old niece Kali Moore was found dead.
The baby girl who was discovered with ‘unspeakable injuries’ was rushed to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis about 3am on Saturday and pronounced dead at 4.01am, police said.
Boyfriend and girlfriend blame each other for child’s death
Documented injuries included skull and neck fractures, a bruised kidney, rectal bleeding along with bleeding to the brain. An arrest affidavit cited the one year old girl also having massive bruising on her back, WREG reported.
The couple had been babysitting the 1 year old girl since Thursday around 5pm.
The man and the woman gave conflicting statements to investigators about what actually happened, blaming each other for the child’s death, according to their affidavits. Moore and Smith also face charges of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect.
Moore claimed having gone out and leaving Smith alone with Kali and when she came home, the infant was unresponsive, with the boyfriend allegedly refusing to tell her what happened, FOX13 reported.
Smith countered, telling officers he was in the back of the home when he heard Moore slam the child into the floor, walls, and wooden furniture six to 10 times.
He told officers that he asked her what she was doing and she said nothing, but the baby was crying too much and getting on her nerves. He said when he entered the room, Moore stopped and he saw that the child was unresponsive.
Previous child abuse
He said that Moore told him that the child fell off the bed and hit her head on the nightstand.
The abuse took place at Moore’s sister’s home, who the sister, Kyera Moore, the child’s biological mother, blaming her sister’s boyfriend for the child abuse and her daughter’s death.
A regard of the home revealed no baby food to feed the child, police said. It was also unclear where the baby was sleeping.
Of note, Kiya Moore had a previous indictment for child abuse, including four counts of aggravated child abuse in February 2022. Moore was out on a $90,000 bond.
She has a court date set for later this month in that case.
Moore and Smith are both set to face a judge on Tuesday morning following Kali Moore’s death over the weekend.
