INDIA DURANT - 3 yo - Bronx/ NYC NY

A Bronx man wanted in the death of his 3-year-old stepdaughter surrendered to cops Friday afternoon.

Kenneth Williams, dressed in tan jeans and a red hoodie, turned himself in at the 48th precinct station house in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx just after 4 p.m. He was accompanied by his lawyer and didn't speak.


His stepdaughter, India Durant, was found unconscious just before 10 a.m. Wednesday in her Crotona Park East apartment. She was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where the toddler died about an hour later.

The medical examiner's office determined Friday that India died of "blunt impacts of torso with internal injuries." Her death has been ruled a homicide.

Williams, also known as Billy Bob, was the only adult with India when
she lost consciousness. He immediately called 911 -- an account
disputed by relatives -- and waited for an ambulance to arrive,
according to his best friend, Brian Newton.

"He was hysterical, crying," Newton said of the stepdad. "He couldn't catch his breath."

India's stepdad, who has eight prior arrests for drugs and
trespassing, told his pal that the child started shaking. He thought she
needed some air and put her on a chair. Williams later told cops the
girl fell off the chair, while he was in another room checking on a
1-year-old boy he shares with India's mother.

Williams heard a loud thump and came running, he told Newton. India was on the floor and going into convulsions.

The tot's mother, Lauren Durant, was at work at the time.

The girl's biological father, Marquis Eaddy, 28, challenged the stepdad's version of events and believes Williams wasted crucial time before calling 911.

"He calls Lauren first and he waits for Lauren to come all the way home from work," Eaddy said.

"All the way from uptown, she had to take the train, the bus, in the meantime the girl could have been saved."

Friends said India's mother and Williams have been together for
several years but are not married. Durant is two months pregnant with
their second child. Durant also has two daughters from a previous
relationship.

A spokesman for the Administration for Children's Services said the agency is investigating the death and the remaining children in the family have been placed with relatives.

EMS tried to resuscitate India as she was brought out of the
apartment on a stretcher, and Billy Bob was beside her, a witness said.

A neighbor who lives below the couple said she's heard constant chaos from their apartment for two years.

"There was screaming and yelling coming from up there 24/7," the
neighbor said, who wouldn't give her name. "It was non-stop. I wish I
would have called someone. I wish I would have said something. Maybe the
little girl would still be alive."

A makeshift memorial was set up outside the apartment building Friday
with flowers and handwritten messages saying "RIP India" and "I love
you."

"She was just so sweet and innocent, a little baby," India's grandmother, Sharon Eaddy, said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/09/16/2011-09-16_3yearold_girl_murdered_in_the_bronx_investigation_underway.html#ixzz1YB4yAplv

On Saturday, a Bronx man was waiting to be arraigned on charges he
killed his three-year-old stepdaughter earlier in the week in their East
Tremont home.Kenneth Williams, 27, was arrested Friday and
charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault, and reckless
endangerment.
Police answering a call of an unconscious child Wednesday morning found three-year-old India Durant in her home.
The girl was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
According
to the New York Daily News, Williams told a friend he put the girl on a
chair after she started shaking, and later told police she fell off the
chair while he was in another room.
The city medical examiner ruled the girl's death a homicide, saying she died from blunt-impact and internal injures.
India's biological father, Marquis Eaddy, said he was worried about the other men her mother was seeing.
"I
really didn't want her to have any boyfriends or anything yet because I
was more concerned about a guy like molesting or touching her or
something of that nature. It's ironic somebody kills my daughter," said
Eaddy.
Officials for the Administration for Children's Services said they are investigating along with the NYPD.
The agency also said the other children in the home have been placed with relatives.
http://bronx.ny1.com/content/top_stories/147383/murdered-bronx-girl-s-stepfather-awaits-arraignment