Virginia man sexually assaulted, killed 17-month-old girl after her mother entrusted him with babysitting the child
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: A 25-year-old man was charged earlier this week after being accused of sexually torturing a 17-month-old girl to death after her mother left the infant with him for babysitting.
On Monday, Barron T. Spurlock was charged with murder and two counts of object sexual penetration in the death and sexual assault of Nariah Ivy Brown. The victim died two days after she was assaulted at a South Richmond motel on May 8.
Nariah’s mother, Aija Brown told Richmond Times-Dispatch that she had left her child in Spurlock's care because she had known him for years and believed him to be a friend. “When I held my daughter in my arms for the last time, I said, ‘Baby, I love you. And I’m going to let you go with Him,’” Aija recalled the last moments she spent with her child. “I’ll be right behind you. I’ll be up there, and I’m going to hold you again.”
According to the state medical examiner’s office, Nariah suffered complications of blunt-force trauma to her torso which caused her death. "I was gonna always do anything to protect her,” Aija said shortly before her infant's death. “She never did anything to anybody. She wasn't a mean baby. She was loving. She would go up to strangers hug them and smile."
Nariah was born as a premature baby and as a result, spent months in the hospital with her mother by her side as she grew stronger. Aija said that she had pledged to never leave her child's side - a promise she had kept until the very end. "I was giving my baby CPR in the back seat,” she told WTVR, recounting the moments as Nariah was being transported to the hospital following the assault. "Because I thought she wasn't breathing."
The accused had previously babysat the infant without incident in the past. He was already was in custody on unrelated charges when police served him with the new warrants.
Richmond Police Department Lieutenant Erland Marshall said the investigation had not been an easy one for his officers. “This was one of the more emotionally trying investigations for our detectives because of the age of the victim,” he said in a statement. “We hope this arrest provides some measure of closure for the family and the community.”