FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Coney Island Dad Convicted of Murder for Beating His 16-Month Old Daughter and Fracturing Her Skull on Father’s Day
Mother Found Baby Unresponsive with Bruises to Head and Body
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 20-year-old man has been convicted of murder after he severely beat his 16-month-of daughter Nylah Lewis during a visit to his Coney Island apartment on Father’s Day, causing her death.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “On a day when the importance of fathers is celebrated, this defendant committed an unforgivable crime against his own child. Instead of protecting and nurturing his daughter, the defendant caused the injuries that tragically ended her short life.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Shaquan Taylor, 20, of Coney Island, Brooklyn. He was convicted yesterday of second-degree murder following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on November 7, 2018.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on June 18, 2017, at some time shortly before 2:30 p.m., the defendant texted Tammy Lewis, 18, from his apartment on West 32nd Street, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, to inform her that their daughter was having trouble breathing. When Lewis arrived at the apartment, she found Nylah on the couch unconscious, with bruising, swelling and lacerations on her face.
According to trial testimony, Lewis left the apartment carrying her daughter to call 911 for medical assistance. The defendant followed Lewis to the lobby, where he began beating her in the neck and face while she was still holding Nylah. Taylor then grabbed Nylah, gave her to a nearby passerby and continued beating Lewis before running away. The defendant was arrested a short time later hiding in the bushes in a lot near his building.
Nylah was admitted to Coney Island Hospital with a fractured skull, loss of oxygen to the brain and bruising all over her body. She was later transferred to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where she remained in a coma for five days. Nylah died from her injuries on June 23, 2017.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Frank DeGaetano, First Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau and Senior Assistant District Attorney Victoria Nunez, also of SVB, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Bureau Chief.
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