A little girl from Louisiana was allegedly beaten to death by her godmother while she visited her for a week in Texas.
Brenika Lott, 32, is charged with capital murder for the death of her 5-year-old goddaughter, Daviana Landry.
The little girl went to visit her godmother, who she called “Nana,” in Texas the day after Father’s Day, according to Daviana’s family. And just five days later she was dead.
“She had my baby more than one time, and I would have never, ever suspected anything like this because she loved my baby,” Alice Landry, Daviana’s relative, told the station.
Police were then called to Lott’s home on June 26 and upon arrival, found Lott performing CPR on Daviana.
The little girl had bruising on her arms as well as chest, face, and her eyes “appeared swollen shut,” according to a probable cause affidavit, KFDM reports. Lott allegedly told police she woke up that day to find Daviana unconscious and cold to the touch.
And when police asked about the girl’s injuries, Lott allegedly claimed they were from mosquito bites. She then allegedly claimed one injury to the back of Daviana’s head was from a slip-and-slide accident. But according to her 11-year-old son, allegedly, he informed police that he witnessed his mother slapping, choking as well as beating the child.
Preliminary autopsy results found Daviana suffered from “craniocerebral trauma, to include skull fractures, subdural hemorrhage, and brainstem contusions” and had died of blunt force trauma, the affidavit states.
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Those who are close with Daviana’s mother, Safiyaa Landry, say she is having a hard time.
“She usually has her with her, by her side. So that kind of disappeared,” family friend Ashley Tolbert told WWLTV. “That’s one main focus that keeps her crying, because she’s so used to that love and that bond that her and her daughter had.”
Lott is behind bars on a $1 million bond and it is unclear if she has entered a plea.