2-YEAR-OLD DIES AFTER BEING BRUTALLY BEATEN BY STEPDAD

On Monday, at Grace Chapel Funeral Home in Brooklyn, NY, relatives said their goodbyes to 2-year-old Thaiya Princetta Spurill-Smith, the New York Daily News reports. The bright-eyed toddler nicknamed “Honey Bee” by those who knew her best, was declared brain dead two days after being savagely beaten by her stepfather, David Adams.

The fatal beating occurred on November 12 and was triggered by the girl’s crying, according to relatives. Adams later told investigators that he shook the toddler “causing (her) head to rotate forward and back rapidly several times.” Shortly after doing so, Adams says that he witnessed her body go limp.

The child, who had slipped into a coma, was taken to a nearby hospital and placed on life support. She was declared brain-dead two days later. Last month in court, Assistant District Attorney Frank DeGaetano charged Adams with two counts of assault, one count of reckless assault and endangering the welfare of a child between Oct. 10 and 20. Prosecutors would not speak publicly regarding the earlier assault charge.

Bizarrely, reports have alleged that the girl’s mother, Teoka Spurill, who is 7 months pregnant with Adams’ child, defended her daughter’s killer in court. The girl’s father, Terrell Smith, has been battling Spurill for custody of their daughter for years. He claims that he accused Adams of abuse long before charges had been filed.

“I kept showing them picture after picture of marks, of signs of abuse, but she got custody,” Smith said.

The child remained on life support until November 19 because her parents could not agree on whether or not her organs should be donated. A judge later ruled in favor of the child’s father, who did not wish to donate her organs.

Prosecutors say that Adams’ previous assault charges will be upgraded to murder after a medical examiner determines her official cause of death.