Wisconsin mom, boyfriend accused of torturing daughter, 4, to death after body was found covered in bite marks
SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: A Wisconsin mother and her boyfriend have been charged with murder after her four-year-old daughter was found lifeless, covered in bruises and human bite marks.
Court records reveal how Autumn Horak was found "pulseless and not breathing" at her Montana Avenue, South Milwaukee, residence Friday morning.
The youngster's mother, 21-year-old Christina Collado, and her 22-year-old boyfriend Jerome Millen have now being accused of causing her death. Prosecutors noted at the Milwaukee County court how the young girl was "utterly tortured over a period of months".
At around 7 am on Friday, February 28, police responded to the property and reportedly found the four-year-old unresponsive. Paramedics arrived at the scene shortly after and pronounced her dead.
The little girl, officers said, was wearing only a diaper and had severe bruising in her jaw, head, forearm and sternum. Furthermore, she also had a burn injury and "what appeared to be a human bite mark."
Speaking to officers, Christina said she had put Autumn to sleep on Thursday night, but that Millen found her unresponsive the next morning. According to police reports, Millen had fled the scene before officers arrived. However, they were able to track him down to a friend's house and arrest him.
When police informed him that Autumn had died, the suspect allegedly replied saying, "So, my life is over." The report noted how Millen proceeded to confess that he repeatedly abused the little girl, admitting it was the prolonged abuse at his hands that resulted in her death.
"If all the injuries caused (the child) to die, it's my fault, my fault," he said. According to the report, Millen beat Autumn repeatedly the night before her death.
Furthermore, he confessed to covering her mouth multiple times and even held a pillow over her face to smother her. "If she suffocated, that is my responsibility and I killed that child," he reportedly added.
According to Fox 6 News, an autopsy declared the death a homicide by suffocation.
Collado, who blamed her boyfriend for her daughter's death, claimed she had seen him physically abuse her on multiple occasions, including biting the four-year-old on two separate occasions.
Furthermore, Collado also claimed she saw Millen slam the little girl's head into the floor the night before she died. However, she admitted that her daughter would still be alive if she had protected her.
"If she properly protected (the child), (the child) would still be alive," the report said.
According to WISN 12 News, family members told authorities how the victim had sustained physical abuse at the hands of Millen for the longest time, but they were too afraid of him to report the abuse.
Millen now faces life in prison on a charge of physical abuse of a child resulting in death. Meanwhile, Autumn's mother Collado faces up to 60 years in prison on a charge of chronic neglect of a child resulting in death.