A heartless father who been thrown into prison after he reportedly beat his 16-month-old baby to death before he never wanted the child.
Nylah Lewis was discovered unconscious after being beaten by the dad
A 16-month-old baby who has been in a coma since Father’s Day, when she was reported to have been beaten by her 18-year-old father, died Friday, according to officials at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.
According to New York Times, the baby, Nylah Lewis, was discovered unconscious by her 17-year-old mother when she came to pick her up on Sunday from a visit with her father, Shaquan Taylor, at 2025 West 32nd Street, in the Sea Gate area of Brooklyn. When the mother, Tammy Lewis, tried to call 911, Mr. Taylor punched her repeatedly in the face, then fled, the police said.
When he was apprehended later that day, little Nylah had been taken to Coney Island Hospital with a fractured skull, facial wounds and other injuries, and subsequently transferred to Maimonides reportedly given by the father.
Mr. Taylor remains jailed on Rikers Island, charged with second-degree assault. That is likely to change because of the death of his child.
“We will seek to upgrade the charges in the grand jury,” said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney.
According to the criminal complaint issued by the district attorney, Nylah was unresponsive and breathing with difficulty when her mother found her. Mr. Taylor said that Nylah had fallen off the bed while he was showering.
Dr. Ingrid A. Walker-Descartes, a child abuse specialist at Maimonides, evaluated Nylah and said her “injuries could not have been caused from falling off a bed, but rather, were inflicted intentionally,” according to the complaint.
Debbie Silberman, a lawyer with Brooklyn Defender Services who is representing Mr. Taylor, declined to comment.
A spokesman for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services would not say whether it had any previous involvement with Nylah, citing confidentiality laws. “The loss of this child is a terrible tragedy,” the spokesman, Jose Bayona, said by email. “We are engaged in an aggressive investigation along with N.Y.P.D.”
In July 2016, Ms. Lewis obtained a court order against Mr. Taylor to prohibit him from stalking or otherwise harassing her, according to information provided in the criminal complaint.
In a jailhouse interview with The Daily News, Mr. Taylor denied hurting his daughter but admitted hitting Ms. Lewis, who was his former girlfriend.
On a Facebook page that appears to be Mr. Taylor’s, a post that was put up about two months after Nylah was born expresses fury that her mother did not get an abortion as he said she had promised.
Later posts show a different side, with photos of Nylah, dressed in pink with a pink bow on her head. In the most recent post, Mr. Taylor wishes everyone a happy Father’s Day.
Taylor denied beating his daughter, initially claiming she fell off the bed. He later changed his story to say she fell off the toilet.
Either way, investigators said, none of the girl’s injuries were consistent with a fall.
Taylor remained held on $250,000 bail on Tuesday, June 27, when he marked his 19th birthday behind bars.
Nylah fought for her life for five days after the horrific assault, but her tiny body gave up on Friday, June 23, and she was buried on Saturday, July 1.