INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A Vero Beach man will serve life in prison for a murder case where officials said he brutally beat and choked a 2-year-old girl at an apartment. The man – Deshawn Clark – was also given nearly five years of credit time served, reports show.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Meadows handed down the sentencing Friday morning. The sentencing comes two months after a jury of 14 found Clark guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Deshawn Clark (right) PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS
Meadows gave 26-year-old Clark a mandatory life sentence for the murder charge and a consecutive 30-year sentence for the aggravated child abuse charge, said Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman who prosecuted the case. Clark was represented by Assistant Public Defender Michelle Rhodeback.
Several people testified in the trial, including relatives of the toddler, Indian River County sheriff’s detectives, fire rescue officials, crime lab technicians along with medical examiner’s representatives. Clark, who was arrested the day after the girl’s death, did not testify during the trial.
The case stems back to 2020 when the girl was found with fractured ribs, neck bruises and swelling to the brain inside her home at the Vero Green Apartments. Indian River County Fire Rescue officials responded to initial reports of a toddler who drowned in the bathtub at the apartment complex, located just north of the West Vero Corridor.
The girl was taken to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead, officials said. Clark was the live-in boyfriend of the girl’s mother, who was at work when the incident happened.
Clark initially told first responders he found the girl unconscious in the bathtub, which was halfway filled with water. However, first responders said the girl was dry and wearing a diaper when they arrived, reports show.
Clark’s story fell through when the girl’s autopsy results were completed.
“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.”
Officials said the girl 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. Deputies said the toddler had hemorrhaging on her hyoid bone – located in the neck. There was also blood in her abdomen, a cut to her liver, fractured ribs close to her spine and brain swelling, investigators reported.
The autopsy showed the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma, according to sheriff’s officials. After the autopsy, Clark admitted to lying about what happened, but denied knowing about the girl’s injuries, officials said.
