Severely Beaten 3-Year-Old Girl Dies: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
PHOENIX - A valley stepfather -- charged with child abuse -- is now looking at murder charges -- after the little girl he's accused of beating has now died.
The 3-year-old was rushed to a local hospital last week, after her stepfather, Corey Daniels, reported she'd stopped breathing because she'd choked on a hot dog.
Police suspected foul play from the beginning because they said the girl was covered with bruises from head to toe.
Her stepdad has admitted to beating the toddler using his fists and a belt, police said.
It was too horrific for neighbors to comprehend.
They were there as 3-year-old Dani Mayo was hauled out on a stretcher Thursday.
Her mom, who had just rushed home, was hysterical.
“Mom was just screaming and yelling and crying, wanting to know what was going on, what was happening to her baby,” said neighbor Peter Milhon.
“I did hear the guy holding her back say she was choking -- she was choking,” said neighbor Brittney Beaver.
Daniels' story unraveled quickly after doctors found multiple skull fractures on the toddler and swelling and bleeding in her brain.
Beaver lives upstairs, and she said the girl's mom's cries were beyond disturbing.
“It was horrible to hear her wails. I couldn’t imagine losing a child in that manner -- especially to someone you trusted,” Beaver said.
According to court paperwork, Daniels admitted to police that he disciplined Dani for “not wanting" to eat her hot dog -- punching her in the chest, arms and legs with his fists and hitting her at least 20 times.
“He didn’t seem like the type of guy. He’d come down here, have a cigarette with the guys, and everything else,” said neighbor Peter Milhon.
Dani clung to life for two days at the hospital, but police said on Saturday morning, she slipped away.
Police said Daniels also admitted to disciplining Dani a few weeks earlier by biting her after she'd urinated on herself.
He's charged with murder and is locked up on an $850,000 bond.
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