The 25-year-old boyfriend of a babysitter in Florida is accused of killing a 1-year-old girl left in his care by his girlfriend, claiming that the toddler’s fatal injuries were caused by him “playing” with her after smoking marijuana.
Deric Young was arrested on Monday and charged with one count of murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse and one count of cruelty to a child by aggravated battery, according to court records obtained by Law&Crime.
According to a Tallahassee Police Department news release, officers were dispatched to a residence in the 1700 block of Saxon Street around 9:15 a.m. on Monday in response to an unresponsive child. First responders arrived at the address and immediately began lifesaving procedures on the toddler. The child succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital.
Though initially treated as a standard “death investigation,” detectives claimed they “quickly uncovered signs of foul play.”
“An autopsy revealed that the child had sustained severe injuries, including multiple strikes to the head with a closed fist, which ultimately resulted in death. The TPD’s Violent Crimes Unit took over the case based on these findings and additional evidence, according to the release. “As the investigation evolved, detectives learned the child was left in the care of Young, the boyfriend of the woman hired to watch the child, the night before the incident occurred.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, an autopsy determined that the victim had suffered “forceful impacts” to both sides of her head and face, causing her brain “to both hemorrhage and swell, eventually causing her death.” The toddler also had an acute fracture of her left femur, which doctors said would have “undoubtedly been extremely painful and severely impacted her ability to crawl or move.”
In a post-Miranda interview with detectives, Young initially denied harming the victim. However, when police presented details of the injuries “which indicated that another person had physically abused her to the point of death,” Young broke down and began crying, saying “he was sorry for what had occurred.”
Police said he then admitted to “striking [the victim] upon her head/face,” and agreed to reenact the child’s brutal beating.
“Affiant would hold a hand up, palm facing the defendant,” the affidavit states. “When asked to do so, the defendant showed how he struck [the victim]. During the demonstration, the defendant used a closed fist to strike your Affiant’s hand. The defendant went on to say that he used both his right and left fists to strike [the victim] twice to three times on both the right and left sides of her head/face.”
Young also claimed to be suffering from “lack of sleep” and a “feeling of stress” while caring for the victim and her brother before offering a bizarre explanation for the toddler’s fatal injuries.
“The defendant was asked if he had simply lost his temper during a stressful moment,” according to the police. “In response, the defendant claimed that he had not lost his temper and was simply ‘playing’ with [the victim] when he struck her. The defendant would say that he had smoked some cannabis minutes before and said something like, ‘When I smoke, I want to play.’ “
According to the affidavit, Young also stated that he would not strike his own daughter of the same age in order to “play with her.”
When asked how the victim’s femur was fractured, Young allegedly admitted that he “used a fist to strike her upon the thigh.”
“The defendant stated that after he had struck [the victim], he exited the bedroom, leaving her lying upon the bed next to her brother,” according to the report. “He returned a short time later and listened to her chest for a heartbeat.” When questioned, the defendant stated that he was concerned that his previous actions may have caused [the victim] harm. When he discovered [the victim] unresponsive, he rushed her into the living room and asked a relative to call 911.
Despite admitting to causing the fatal injuries, Young allegedly maintained that he “had not intended to cause [the victim’s] death,” claiming that he had not been “overly forceful” when punching the toddler’s head and face. He also stated that he was “unaware that the blows could cause hemorrhaging in her brain.”
Young was booked into the Leon County Jail and is currently being held without bond, according to records. His first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
