Keaura Killion and Renard Robinson
A 23-year-old man in Louisiana was arrested for allegedly beating his girlfriend’s 1-year-old daughter to death over the weekend because the child would not stop crying.
Renard Robinson was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of second-degree murder in the death of Brooklyn Dillion, authorities announced.
The victim’s mother, 23-year-old Keaura Dillion, was also arrested on Monday. She was charged with one count of accessory after the fact to second-degree murder.
According to a press release from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, deputies at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11 responded to a 911 call in reference to a young child who was not breathing at a residence located in the 500 block of Revere Drive in LaPlace.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they located the toddler, who was unresponsive on a bed inside the home. She appeared to have serious sustained physical injuries. Shortly after Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel arrived, Brooklyn’s vital signs crashed. She succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
“Officers and medical personnel observed bruising to her face and other parts of her body,” the release states. “An autopsy shows the baby had several severe injuries.”
The medical examiner determined that Brooklyn’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma.
In an interview with investigators, Robinson allegedly admitted to inflicting the physical harm that caused the infant to lose consciousness and ultimately caused her death.
“It did not take long for the young man, Renard, to confess,” Sheriff Mike Tregre reportedly told New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL-TV. “He told us he was home alone with the child, the child was starting to cry. He grabbed the child and beat the child on the floor a few times and he also struck the child on the bed rail — the post of the bed — and put the child back in the bed.”
Robinson also implicated Dillion, allegedly telling the investigators he told Dillion that he was responsible for injuring Brooklyn prior to them speaking to authorities.
“They tried to lead us to believe it was something else that may have happened to the child but when we saw the injuries, those things did not add up,” Sheriff Tregre reportedly told the station. “He admitted to us she knew what he had done. She tried to deny it. She did not show any emotions until we put the handcuffs on her. Even though we told her these were the injures we found and we told her he confessed, she never cried, she never showed any emotion.”
Robinson is currently being held on $300,000 bond while Dillion is being held on $190,000 bond. Robinson is reportedly not Brooklyn’s biological father. Dillion other child, a 4-year-old boy, was reportedly removed from the home and place into protective custody.
Sheriff Tregre reportedly told Baton Rouge CBS affiliate WAFB that the slaying was one of the most difficult cases to come through his office in a long time.
“It’s going to stick with and remain with my officers, probably the rest of our careers, the rest of our lives. It’s just a bad situation,” he reportedly said. “This is just — it’s not a good time ever — but this is Christmas time, which makes it that much worse.”
[images via St. John Parish Sheriff]