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Three-Year-Old Killed By Stepfather Died Of "Blunt Impact Injuries" To Head And Body
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2014
Modified Oct 21, 2014
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2014
Modified Oct 21, 2014
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The Medical Examiner's office finished its autopsy on the toddler girl who appears to have died at the hands of her stepfather. Jeida Torres, 3, died of "blunt impact injuries of head and torso" and her death was declared a homicide. Her stepfather Kelsey Smith apparently "kicked Jeida and smashed her head into a crib" after she soiled her diaper on Saturday.
Smith, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder. It's also believed that Smith choked the little girl and also struck her brother, Andrew Torres, 5, when the boy tried to intervene. Smith's uncle, Mark Almodovar, told the Daily News, "He wants to show everyone he didn’t intentionally kill the girl. He admits he did it wrong. He admits he used too much force when he back-slapped her." Wife Kimberly Torres-Smith was at work during the attack.
Smith, Torres-Smith and the children were living at 38 Cooper Street, a Bushwick brownstone with apartments for families in the homeless shelter system. A social worker had checked and approved the apartment and tenants on Friday night.
The NYPD had no reports of domestic abuse and a spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services "said there had been no open or previous investigations of Jeida’s family by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services. That agency investigates a specific case only after it receives a report of suspected abuse, but it also maintains a large network of support services that are intended to help families before they get into trouble, according to agency officials."
However, a neighbor of the couple's told the Post that she heard screaming every night, "Every night, he beating on her, she screamin. He accusing her of going with other men, then after the beating, like nothing happen. She laughing, carrying on, and the babies still crying." Almodovar confirmed that his nephew and his wife had been arguing, possibly from the stress of trying to find a new apartment.
Smith has 15 prior arrests; DNAinfo reports that during various prison stints, Smith has attacked prison guards and inmates: "While at Crossroads Juvenile Detention Center in July 2010, Smith and two others surrounded a boy and punched him in the head, face and body — breaking his wrist and causing bruising and swelling in his nose, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office."
The children's father, Pedro Torres, has been spending time with his son, Andrew, who is still in the hospital. Torres' fiancee's father told the News, "Pedro, he’s a zombie right now. He’s just in shock." As for the little boy, the News reports, "A community affairs captain outside the hospital on Monday said the boy was alert and had no comprehension of the events, adding that officers gave him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume to cheer him up."
Tagged
Andrew Torres
fatal beating
HOMICIDE
jeida torres
kelsey smith
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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