Sentenced: Deandre Gilmore On Trial For The 2014 Death Of 21 Month Old Myla Presley

[Sugar Cookie]

Deandre Gilmore had been accused of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of his girlfriend's 19-month-old daughter on May 7, 2014.

Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow.

"He is on trial for the most serious crime there is," Gilmore's attorney, Theda James, told the jurors. "He deserves justice and if there's anything about this case that's going to make you cry, are you going to be in that jury room crying?"

Gilmore, now 34, has denied hitting the girl, pleading not guilty to the charges and maintaining that her death was an accident. He has been held in county jail for three years, bail set at $50,000.

Gilmore was babysitting the girl while her mother, 25-year-old Nayashia Williams, was at work and told Tampa police he was giving her a bath when he realized he forgot to grab clothes from her bedroom.

Myla's 5-year-old brother was with relatives that day. Gilmore said he left the girl alone in the tub for up to four minutes until he heard a loud "thump" from the bathroom. He said he found Myla slightly hunched over with vomit on her face and a large knot on her forehead. When he lifted her from the bathtub, the toddler made a loud grunting noise and stopped breathing, he reported.

He said he said he ran down the street to his mother's house for help. When Gilmore and his mother got back to the Sulphur Springs apartment Myla was unresponsive, he told police, so he performed CPR and his mother called 911.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, however, concluded that Myla was beaten and ruled her death a homicide, the Department of Children and Families reported. Her autopsy determined Myla died from a subdural hemorrhage after a blunt impact to the head, and suffered extensive "blunt force trauma" to her upper body that didn't fit with Gilmore's account.

At St. Joseph's Hospital, doctors discovered that Myla's brain was bleeding and had "shifted" position, DCF reported. The girl had several bruises on her stomach, head and ears, and bleeding that likely resulted from abdominal trauma.

Gilmore didn't father either of Williams' children, but she told DCF investigators he had been in their lives since Myla was about 6 months old and had lived with them for about five months before her daughter's death. He was good with the kids, Williams told investigators. But she said she saw him hit Myla twice before and told him to stop because "he would hit her too hard," according to the DCF report.

Gilmore told investigators the mother also hit the children.

After Myla's death, the DCF placed Williams' son in a relative's custody. A petition to terminate Williams' parental rights has been filed in court, and she is only allowed to see her son in supervised visits. Gilmore is also facing a petition to terminate his parental rights to three children from a previous relationship who are in their mother's custody.

He has no previous arrests for child abuse, state records show.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...2014-death-of-19-month-old-tampa-girl/2341290

The Department of Children and Families didn’t have any prior complaints or contact with Williams and Gilmore while they lived together with her children. Gilmore has three children from another relationship, Williams said.

Gilmore, 31, had never been arrested for child abuse, though DCF records show that between 2006 and 2011 he was investigated several times about the care he provided for his children. The findings included failure to thrive, medical neglect and substance misuse. He was referred to a drug treatment program and given information on day care and other family-related material, according to DCF records.

Williams also was investigated four times between 2010 and 2013 on allegations of physical abuse and environmental hazards on her children, according to DCF records. None of the allegations were substantiated, according to DCF records.

Today, Williams is left with the memories of Myla. Williams said her daughter was her best friend. She misses her laugh and dressing in matching outfits. She misses her voice calling out for her.

“I want my daughter’s life to mean something,” Williams said. “For it not to have been in vain.”

http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/3-mon...ath-mom-struggles-with-sorrow-guilt-20140829/
[doublepost=1508247465,1508247193][/doublepost]

Myla

 

[Prettypink513]

“I want my daughter’s life to mean something,” Williams said. “For it not to have been in vain.”

shouldn't have abused her, then, bitch

 

[Francyne32]

Yep, I find it key that the mom told the boyfriend to stop hitting her since he hit her to hard... WTF!
Why was he beating a BABY to begin with!?
Why after the first time was he even allowed in the house or around any of your children!?

Oh that's right, because you also beat them. Typical

This baby had MULTIBLE serious signs of abuse and trauma. This poor thing suffered, a lot. Both the boyfriend and the mom need to be arrested and charged!

 

[Sejanus]

Her daughter was her best friend...pfft ...
fuck off!

Your best friend was murder peen.
Give them the chair!

 

[Sugar Cookie]

@Satanica @Prettypink513

Oct 20, 2017

The actions of Deandre Gilmore caused the death of his girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter in 2014, but a Hillsborough County jury decided Friday it was unintentional, convicting him of manslaughter, not murder.

Gilmore, 34, who was also convicted of felony battery, showed little emotion at the verdicts, which were announced after four hours of deliberation.

He rubbed his eyes, clasped his hands and rested his chin on them as each juror confirmed the decisions, one by one.

"I’m just ready to have my own life again," said Nayashia Williams, the child’s mother. "My life will always begin and end with ‘three and a half years ago my daughter was killed.’

"I’m just numb," she said.

Williams, 28, spent much of Friday sitting in a wheelchair outside the courtroom, waiting with her mother and other relatives for the jury of five women and seven men to return after deliberations.

She had just been released from the hospital that morning after giving birth to a baby girl, named Nova, the day before.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/court...ilty-but-not-of-murder-jury-decides_161843927

Oct 23, 2017

Deandre Gilmore waited three years for his weeklong trial in the death of his ex-girlfriend’s 19-month-old daughter. But his sentencing hearing Monday morning lasted only three minutes, ending in a 15-year prison term.

Gilmore, 34, was convicted Friday of manslaughter and felony battery. He can serve his 15-year manslaughter sentence and five-year felony battery sentence at the same time, Judge Samantha Ward said Monday. He will get credit for time served awaiting trial.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/court...for-manslaughter-in-toddler-s-death_161921088