NEVAEH TURNER - 3 yo (2010) - Irvington (W of Newark) NJ

Parents Tamir Little, 31, and Samirah Lightford, 23,
of Irvington, N.J. were indicted and arrested Tuesday on charges of
murder and endangering the welfare of their 3-year-old daughter Neveah Turner.



After living with her mother and then three foster families in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, it seemed as if Nevaeh Turner, not yet 3-years-old,
would finally get a chance to settle into a home.
Nevaeh moved into her father's Irvington home in July 2009.
It would be the last one she ever knew. Nevaeh,
whose name is heaven spelled backwards, was beaten to
death four months later.

Assistant Prosecutor Peter Guarino says the biological mother Lightford was unable to care for
Turner, consequently sending her to foster care. When the child was made
available for adoption in July 2009, her father, Little sought custody.

In November, Turner was taken to Beth Israel hospital in Newark and
declared brain dead 2 days later.

An autopsy revealed the little girl died from blunt force trauma.

Abuse allegedly began when the child was in her father’s custody in
July. Turner allegedly had belt marks and cord marks and sustained blunt
force type injuries from what is commonly known as shaken baby syndrome.

Both parents were taken into custody on bail for $300,000.

Nevaeh Turner’s young life was already unraveling by the time she was
6 months old and someone broke into her mother’s house, found the
little girl alone and contacted child-welfare authorities.
The episode threw Nevaeh into the foster care system, where she was
bounced among three foster families in two years until her father, an
Irvington resident, agreed to take custody last July.Finally, it seemed, the little girl with big brown eyes, whose name is
heaven spelled backward, had found a stable home.
But within four months, Nevaeh was dead.
"There was no explanation, except that the day before the baby was
playing a game and ran into a door," said Peter Guarino, an Essex County
assistant prosecutor. "All we had was a baby with a horrendous brain
injury."
After months of investigating, an Essex County grand jury charged
Nevaeh’s father, Tamir Little, 31, and his former fiancée, Samirah
Lightford, 23, in the child’s death. They were arrested May 25 and
charged with murder in a two-count indictment that paints a grim
portrait of a child who escaped neglect and instability only to be
brutally beaten, authorities say, by her own father.
Navaeh’s mother, Kamilia Turner, met Little 12 years ago when they
sang together in a church choir in Newark. Friendship turned to romance
and Turner, a mother of three, became pregnant with Nevaeh. She moved to
Lewisburg, Pa., for a fresh start.
Little soon followed. But the relationship soured and he returned to
New Jersey before Nevaeh was born in November 2006.
"It was very annoying to have him around," Turner, 27, said. "That
was pretty much the end of us, actually."
Six months after Nevaeh was born, Turner was to appear in court on
shoplifting charges in Pennsylvania. She left Nevaeh home alone with her
16-month-old brother, Khamel.
While Turner was gone, someone broke in and found the children alone,
according to both Turner and her family members. The would-be thieves
called Pennsylvania’s Office of Children, Youth and Families, and
authorities determined Turner was unfit to care for the children.
Khamel went to live with his dad and Nevaeh headed to the first of
her three foster homes. Two years passed.
Last year, as Nevaeh was about to be put up for adoption, Turner
tried to regain custody, but failed. She said Little’s fiancée,
Lightford, with whom he had a 2-year old, convinced him "to get back in
the picture" after he had not seen his daughter in 18 months.
Little was granted custody and in July, he and Lightford brought
Nevaeh back to Irvington where the family shared a first-floor apartment
on Campfield Street.
Neither Little or Lightford could be reached for comment before their
arrest.
Turner said she saw her daughter just twice in that time. "He didn’t
trust me around my own daughter," she said.
But, she said, the couple seemed like good parents.
"She came across as a very caring mom," Turner said of Lightford.
Authorities paint a different picture. They said Little and Lightford
began abusing Nevaeh right around the time they gained custody. The
beatings culminated on Nov. 21, according to authorities, when Nevaeh
was rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark. Multiple bruises
indicated she was likely bleeding from the brain. Surgeons operated, but
could do little more than stabilize her.
Nevaeh was pronounced dead Nov. 25. A Thanksgiving Day autopsy
concluded she died from blunt force trauma to the head.
The child also had marks suggesting she was being hit with a cord or
belt, according to the indictment. Guarino, the assistant prosecutor,
said Little admitted to using those items to discipline Naveah. The
couple’s younger child, who was also living with them, did not appear to
have been subjected to any harsh treatment, Guarino said.
Little and Lightford, who are no longer engaged, are scheduled to be
arraigned June 22. They face 30 years to life in prison if convicted of
the murder charge, and five to 10 years on a child endangerment count.
Neither have prior criminal records, Guarino said. Both are being held
in lieu of $300,000 bail.

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