childabuse

Charges were officially filed against 33-year-old Darion Smith, the chief suspect to be tried for the killing of a four-year-old girl, D’Onya “Bella” Walker on Friday.

Twenty-nine-year-old Astonya Walker, Bella’s mother, and the girlfriend of Smith,  faces other charges of her own.

After they were hauled to court, they were not allowed to answer the charges, were denied bail and remanded to the Bahamas Department of Corrections until December 17.

Here’s a look at the charges:

Murder

This is the charge for Smith for intentionally causing the death of Bella. She suffered blunt force trauma to her body which caused broken ribs and punctured her internal organs resulting in massive bleeding.  The autopsy revealed the child suffered from old fractures that healed by themselves.

This charge can only be reduced to manslaughter if Smith was extremely provoked or any other excuse.

Smith can face the death penalty, which has become a controversial issue in the country, to be determined by the Privy Council if it is considered “the worst of the worst.”

Cruelty to children

This is the charge for both Smith and the girlfriend. They had custody of Bella. She was handed over to them by the child’s paternal grandparents when she was exposed to assaults, ill-treatment and neglect, causing unnecessary suffering and injury.

Smith and the girlfriend can be fined not exceeding $5000 or face two years in prison or both, or upon conviction before the Supreme Court, to a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars or imprisonment for five years or both.

Exposing Child to Grievous Harm

This is the second charge for the girlfriend. She is accused of exposing or abandoning Bella which resulted in harm to the child. This charge carries seven years.

Police confirmed that 4-year-old Bella Walker died as a result of blunt force trauma to the body.

The trauma caused multiple fractures to her body, police said.

Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle lamented the brutal injuries that caused internal injuries to the little girl. ” I don’t know what they were thinking.”

The big picture

Bella died on Friday afternoon and police ruled her death “suspicious.” The main suspect is the boyfriend of her mother who remains in police custody. He was seen assisting the unresponsive body of the girl into an ambulance.

Neighbours recalled the child being left home alone and wandering the streets of Major Subdivision.

Bella lived with her grandparents in Grand Bahama from the age of two weeks until she was four years old. Two months ago, she was sent to live with her mother.

Government officials have spoken out against the violent act.

Today, Marco City MP Michael Pintard encouraged the government to send a clear message to perpetrators in child abuse cases, showing that “we have had enough as a country and are prepared to do something fundamentally different.”

National Security Minister rejects sexual abuse claims

Speculations arose that the child was sexually assaulted, CSJ Report was informed that her vagina showed signs of swelling and injury, in addition to previous fractures that healed on their own.

But National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said there was no evidence to suggest she was sexually abused.

Outside of parliament on Wednesday morning, he said, “We don’t need to insinuate more into something than is there. If a child dies, if it’s by violence, that is unacceptable. And I don’t understand that people don’t see that sufficient.”

The wife of Prime Minister Philip Davis is speaking up against the killing of 4-year-old Bella Walker, calling her death “heinous” vowing that the Office of the Spouse of the Prime Minister will bring awareness and policy proposals to protect children from abuse.

Ann-Marie Davis said it was unfortunate that it took the assault and killing of Bella to cause public outrage.

“There is more than sufficient blame to go around for our societal failings in this regard,” she said.

Bella grew up in the care of her paternal great grandmother and grandmother in Freeport, Grand Bahama but was sent to Nassau to live with her mother nearly two months ago.

Neighbours recalled Bella being home alone and sometimes wandering the streets. They kept her until her mother or the mother’s boyfriend arrived home.

She was killed on Friday night, allegedly by the hands of her mother’s boyfriend. Police have not identified the exact cause of death, only to say she sustained injuries to the body. Other reports indicate the child was also sexually assaulted.

Davis said, “I express heartfelt condolences to the family of young Walker as they struggle and pray to make sense of this apparent senseless and unspeakable tragedy. My thoughts and prayers and that of the Prime Minister are with the affected family during this difficult period.”

Davis said she is confident that the matter will be thoroughly investigated and authorities will issue secure swift justice.

“Bahamians everywhere are encouraged to be agents of change by lending their collective voices of outrage, intolerance, and advocacy in support of our children and the vulnerable. We are parents, sisters, brothers and when we commit ourselves to consistently being our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers – we can cause for a social and cultural shift in our behavior toward one another.”

The mother’s boyfriend is in police custody.

The killing of four-year-old Bella on Friday by her mother’s boyfriend has sparked outrage and anger from the public.

The boyfriend Darion Smith and mother Astonya are said to be in police custody following her death, although other reports suggest that the mother is not being held by police.

The police said their initial investigation revealed that the child sustained “several injuries to her body” which caused her death, and labeled the incident, a “suspicious death” while they await an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

However, the police have not revealed whether or not Bella was sexually assaulted.

What happened to Bella?

CSJ Report understands that Bella Walker sustained severe injuries to her vagina, which appeared swollen.

It is also believed that the child was severely beaten within the last two months since the evidence shows broken bones and fractures that healed on its own.

On the day she died, the boyfriend called the emergency services and was seen lifting the “limp” body of Bella into the ambulance.

Neighbors in the subdivision said Bella was left home alone at times and was seen wandering the streets in Major Subdivision before she was attended to by a neighbour, until the mother and boyfriend arrived home.

Who took care of Bella?

Bella grew up with her paternal great grandmother, Mary Grant, since she was two weeks old. But two months ago, she was sent to live with her mother.

CSJ Report understands the mother harassed the family for custody of the child.

Grant’s daughter is the child’s grandmother, but Bella stayed with Grant.

“Everybody is crying. We send Bella to her death. Everybody. I couldn’t sleep last night. Oh Jesus!”

A neighbor recalled seeing the mother running naked in the street from the boyfriend who is accused of physically assaulting the mother as well. A coworker also confirmed the abuse of the mother since she often showed up at work with bruising around the eyes.