A man was allegedly motivated by jealousy when he fatally beat a 2-month-old twin girl before blaming her death on his autistic son, according to reports.
Demetrius Beatty, of Washington, D.C., has been charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children in connection with the August 16 incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a Thursday, September 17, news release.
Beatty was described as the stepfather of the 2-month-old twins, whom he was caring for along with three other children at his home, the office said.
According to court documents obtained by WUSA, prosecutors said Beatty killed one of the twins, Khamyah Honesty, that day because he was jealous that another man was her biological father. He reportedly lived with the child’s mother and other children that they shared.
After the woman became pregnant with the twins, Beatty was “crushed,” per the court filings.
Police officers were called to a report of an unconscious baby at the apartment where Beatty lived on the evening of August 16 and found Khamyah with “blunt force injuries,” according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
An autopsy conducted the next day revealed she had been killed, police said.
It was Beatty who called 911 about Khamyah while her mother was away at the grocery store, according to court filings obtained by WTOP. He reportedly blamed her death on his 7-year-old autistic son.
Beatty said the boy, who is nonverbal, “got to the 2-month-old daughter and was fighting her and he damaged her pretty good,” the court documents state.
However, injuries to the girl’s head indicated that they weren’t caused by the boy, according to WTOP.
About a week before the murder, Beatty allegedly told Khamyah’s mother that if she left the girl and her twin with him, they were “going to be dead,” according to court filings obtained by WUSA.
In court on Thursday, Beatty’s defense attorney reportedly contended his client’s autistic son was responsible for the newborn’s death.
“Someone who attacks and kills an infant child does not immediately call 9-1-1,” the lawyer claimed in Beatty’s defense.
Beatty was ordered to be held without bond on Thursday ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for September 28, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The other children at Beatty’s home were removed by the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency following Khamyah’s death, according to WTOP. They were transported to a hospital, where one was found with scrapes to his head. Another girl was found with a burn injury and a third child was described as having a bad diaper rash, per court filings.
