A 22-year-old man was indicted last week in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl found with fractured ribs, neck bruises and swelling to the brain last August, court records show.
The Grand Jury on June 22 issued a true bill against Deshawn Marlo Clark on charges of first-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. Clark has been held without bond at the Indian River County Jail ever since his arrest, which was one day after the August 24, 2020 incident.
“The injuries on and around the victim’s neck were consistent with her being intentionally choked,” Indian River County sheriff’s officials previously said in a statement. “The death was classified as a homicide as a result of multiple injuries, trauma to the torso, and asphyxiation.”
Clark was the live-in boyfriend of the girl’s mother at the time of his arrest. Last September, Clark pled not guilty to his original charges of second-degree murder and aggravated battery on a child, court records show.
Deputies said Clark initially told first responders the girl drowned in a bathtub at their home at Vero Green Apartments. The mother was at work when the incident happened.
Dispatchers provided CPR instructions to Clark before first responders arrived. Firefighters tried to revive the baby girl, deputies said.
The girl was taken to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead, deputies said.
Clark told deputies he found the girl unconscious in a bathtub that was halfway filled with water, reports show. But, paramedics said the girl was dry and that she was wearing a dry diaper.
The girl’s autopsy showed she had cuts to the left side of her head, bruising on her chest, marks on her back legs and bruising on her left hip, under her left eye and on her neck, officials said. Deputies said the girl had hemorrhaging on her hyoid bone – located in the neck – along with blood in her abdomen, a cut to her liver, fractured ribs close to her spine and brain swelling.
“The autopsy further revealed the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma and not someone attempting CPR,” sheriff’s officials previously said.
Deputies said Clark admitted to lying about what happened, but denied knowing about the girl’s injuries. Clark was due in court at 9 a.m. Tuesday, records show.