AYVEIONSE CRUZ-CARTER - 22 Months (2009)/ Father's GF; Tajha Phillips - Harrisburg PA

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico announced Wednesday that a
grand jury has returned an indictment against Tajha Phillips, 20, in the
May 2009 asphyxiation and beating death of 22-month-old Ayveionse
Cruz-Carter.

"I can tell you this, that there was no doubt from
the beginning of the autopsy that what we were dealing with was child
abuse," said Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick.

Phillips was the girlfriend of Cruz-Carter's father, Abraham Cruz.

"This
is a girl (Cruz-Carter) who had, at 22 months old, bruises from the top
of her head down to her feet," said assistant DA Sean McCormack.

On
May 6, 2009, Ayveionse Cruz-Carter was pronounced dead at Harrisburg
Hospital.  She died while in the custody and care of Tajha Phillips,
according to the indictment.

At approximately 12:45 PM on May 6, a
911 emergency call was made reporter that, "...a lady laid on her baby
and the baby is not breathing..."  The caller was visiting the Ivey Lane
Apartments with a friend, when she told the 911 operator that she was
approached by a man who told her, "...there was a girl upstairs with a
dead baby in her arms."

DA Marsico says that Phillips
initially denied causing the child's death, but later admitted to the
grand jury that she did roll on top of Ayveionse.  In addition, Phillips
told the grand jury she hit Ayveionse several times to quiet her down.

The
autopsy performed on Cruz-Carter determined that the cause of her death
was asphyxia and multiple traumatic injuries.  The autopsy report lists
numerous injuries, including, but not limited to, a large bruise
measured over 4" x 3 1/2" in size, on Cruz-Carter's lower abdomen,
extensive hemorrhaging on the lower right leg that extended deep
throughout the leg's underlying fat tissue, a total of 30 fresh
contusions to the child's head and three injuries compatible to bite
marks on her upper back and left thigh.

Cruz-Carter's mother,
Shequetta Carter, who did not have custody of Ayveionse, and the child's
paternal grandmother, Gloria Rodriguez, both have said that they both
independently notified Dauphin County Children and Youth Services about
their concern that Ayveionse was being abused in the weeks leading up
to her death.

Rodriguez said a case worker performed a home visit, and interviewed Tajha Phillips in March or April 2009.

"All
she did was ask (Phillips) questions.  (Phillips) said 'No' to
everything," Rodriguez said Wednesday upon hearing Phillips had been
indicted.  "That was the final thing.  I called about two days later.  I
was told nothing because they couldn't prove what I was saying... that
the baby was being beaten."

Carter was in attendance, and in
tears, during Wednesday afternoon's news conference announcing the
indictment.  She said she had not actually seen Ayveionse since January
2008.  Shortly after that, she contacted Dauphin
County CYS because Ayveionse had been burned while in the presence of
her father.

In the spring of 2009, Carter said she made another
complaint to CYS that she had concerns about the environment Ayveionse
was being raised in.

"When she died, the next day I went to
Children and Youth and I demanded answers," Carter said.  "Couldn't
nobody give me anything.  Nothing at all.  Couldn't nobody say really
too much of anything.  And I'll tell them, 'You could have prevented
this.'  And that's how I feel, and can't nobody change my mind.  They
could have prevented my daughter's death."

Assistant DA McCormack
said during the news conference that an investigation was conducted
following Cruz-Carter's death to determine what, if any, level of
involvement CYS had with the child before May 6, 2009.

McCormack
admitted that there had been contact between the agency and the child,
but would not say when or what the circumstances were that led to the
connection.

Either way, McCormack said tales of wrongdoing on behalf of CYS are false.

"It seemed to be some of the stories were, 'Children and Youth ignored this child.'  That was not the case," McCormack said.

Police did not find Tajha Phillips Thursday despite the search of a home
and say she failed to turn herself into police, as was reportedly
promised.

Philips was charged Wednesday (8/4) with 22-month-old
Ayveionse Cruz-Carter's death in May of 2009. Phillips says she rolled
onto the little girl in bed, while police say Phillips beat the
Harrisburg Toddler.

Ayveionse's grandmother and mother says
Dauphin County Children and Youth Services were warned about the abuse
but didn't do enough to prevent her death.
The head of the County's Human Services Division and Assistant District Attorney Sean McCormick both say any action taken
in all abuse cases are fully reviewed by the state when a child's death
occurred.

McCormick says a criminal investigation looked at all
action taken by the agency and found appropriate action. He revealed
Ayveionce came under scrutiny by Children and Youth in 2008 when she was
burned. The burn was ruled accidental but she continued to be followed
by the agency which took the child to a hospital for a full medical
exam just a few week before her death.

At that time, she did not have the bruises that covered her body the day she died.

Harrisburg woman arraigned in death of toddler
Published: Thursday, August 05, 2010, 11:16 PM Updated: Friday, August 06, 2010, 10:34 AM
A Harrisburg woman wanted on homicide charges in the 2009 death of a 22-month-old girl surrendered to authorities Thursday evening.Harrisburg Police said Tajha Phillips, 20 came to the police station just before 5 p.m. accompanied by her attorney.


On Wednesday, Phillips was charged with the May 6, 2009, beating death of Ayveionse Cruz-Carter, her boyfriend’s daughter.

Prosecutors said the girl died from multiple traumatic injuries and possibly suffocation.

Phillips told police she used “taps” with an open hand to get the girl to go to sleep, and the action left red marks, records state.

An autopsy indicated the girl had bruises on her left hip and abdomen; a hemorrage on her left leg that extended through the fat tissue; and 30 contusions on her scalp, record state.

Phillips was ordered placed in the Dauphin County Prison without bail.


http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/08/harrisburg_woman_arraigned_in.html

snipped

Ayveionse Cruz-Carter, 1: Ayveionse died May 6 in Harrisburg from multiple traumatic injuries. Tajha Phillips, the girlfriend of Ayveionse’s father, is scheduled for trial in July.

http://www.caringforourchildrenfoundation.org/?p=5626

Trial 7/25/2011

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-22-CR-0004341-2010

Trial 08/29/2011 9:00 am Scheduled
http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-22-CR-0004341-2010

Trial 10/03/2011 9:00 am Scheduled

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-22-CR-0004341-2010

Trial 11/14/2011 9:00 am Schedule

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-22-CR-0004341-2010

Harrisburg woman gets 7 to 14 years in prison for slaying of 22-month-old girl

By Matt Miller
on October 29, 2012 at 2:50 PM
updated October 29, 2012 at 3:40 PM

Shequetta Carter tried, but she just couldn’t do it.

Shequetta Carter broke down in tears as a Dauphin County judge prepared to sentence a Harrisburg woman who admitted killing Carter's 22-month-old daughter, Ayveionse Cruz-Carter.

She stood there, grim-faced, before Dauphin County Judge Andrew H. Dowling this morning as her emotions overcame her.

A moment before, Tajha Phillips, 22, of Harrisburg, had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and child endangerment for the May 2009 slaying of Carter’s 22-month-old daughter, Ayveionse Cruz-Carter.

Dowling was giving Carter the chance to speak before he sentenced Phillips to 7 to 14 years in state prison under a plea deal.

Carter took a breath, then paused when Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean McCormack asked if she had anything to say.

“I can’t,” she said as she burst into tears and rushed from the courtroom.

The sentencing hearing proceeded, punctuated by Carter’s cries echoing from the hallway outside.

Phillips’ plea and sentencing came 3½ years after Ayveionse was found unconscious in the Harrisburg apartment where she and Phillips were living. Phillips was the girlfriend of the little girl’s father, Abraham Cruz.

McCormack said an autopsy showed that the child had been suffocated and extensively beaten. The coroner’s report listed more than three pages of injuries, including at least 30 wounds to the girl’s head.

Ayveionse was in Phillips’ care when she died, McCormack said, although it is unclear why Phillips had charge of the child. He said Phillips admitted to police that she had punched the child in the chest to try to quiet her.
ayveionse_cruz_carter.jpg Ayveionse Cruz-Carter

Submitted photoAlso, McCormack said a witness reported hearing sounds of apparent child abuse coming from the apartment where Phillips and Ayveionse were living just before the girl died.

Family members of Carter had said earlier that they had contacted Children and Youth Services a month before the girl’s death to report suspected abuse.

Phillips’ arrest in August 2010 followed a police and grand jury investigation. She was the only person charged in connection with the death.

McCormack and Dowling noted that the prison sentence set in the plea deal is a year longer than the standard-range sentence specified in such a murder case.

“I know that I was reckless. I know that I should have cared for her better,” Phillips said as Dowling prepared to sentence her. “I want you to know that I loved Ayveionse, no matter what. I was there for her.”

She begged Carter and her family for forgiveness.

“I know they’re hurting, just as I’m hurting,” Phillips said.

After the hearing, a visibly distraught Carter said the penalty imposed on Phillips was “not fair” given the magnitude of her crime.

“I’m a mother,” she said. “It will never be enough.”

Still, Carter said she agreed to the plea deal because it was the best the justice system had to offer.

“You have to be sick to do that to somebody’s child,” Carter said of Phillips.

“It’s been three years and it isn’t getting any better. It gets harder every day,” she said when asked if the sentencing will give her any measure of closure.

The toughest part, she said, is having to explain the murder to her other four children, ages 1 to 7. Only her eldest daughter remembers her slain sister, Carter said.

“They ask me to take them to the cemetery to see (Ayveionse’s) grave,” Carter said. “I can’t bring myself to do it.”

McCormack said investigators could not rule out that Ayveionse might have been physically abused by others as well as by Phillips. Still, he said it was determined that the harm Phillips inflicted “was the ultimate reason why this child died.”

Although he never met Ayveionse when she was alive, McCormack said others have told him she was a vivacious little girl.

“She seemed to be full of life. She was just caught up in a situation that was tragic,” he said. “This is the type of case where there is no winner.”

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/10/harrisburg_woman_gets_7_to_14.html