What to Know
- A 20-year-old Brooklyn father has been convicted of murder in the killing of his 16-month-old daughter on Father's Day
- Prosecutors said the toddler went to visit him at his Coney Island apartment and he beat her, fracturing her skull
- Shaquan Taylor faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced next month
A Brooklyn father has been convicted of murder for beating his toddler daughter unconscious when she came to visit his home Father's Day, causing her to die days later, prosecutors said Thursday.
Shaquan Taylor, 20, of Coney Island, faces 25 years to life in prison in the death of his 16-month-old daughter, Nylah Lewis. He will be sentenced next month.
Prosecutors say Taylor sent his daughter's mother a Facebook message on June 18 asking her to pick up Nylah from his Coney Island apartment. When the 17-year-old mother got there, she found Nylah unresponsive and asked Taylor to call 911, but he refused, prosecutors have said.
Taylor then hit the mother, handed Nylah to a bystander and continued to beat the mother, who had an order of protection against him, an indictment said.
Nylah's skull was fractured and she suffered swelling of the brain, as well as swelling and bruising to the face and body, prosecutors said. She was on life support until June 23, when she succumbed to her injuries.
The mother had cuts and swelling to her eye.
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Taylor initially told police that Nylah fell from the bed, but prosecutors say her injuries are inconsistent with such a fall.
"On a day when the importance of fathers is celebrated, this defendant committed an unforgivable crime against his own child," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. "Instead of protecting and nurturing his daughter, the defendant caused the injuries that tragically ended her short life."
