Tatiana Marie Baker is a 21-year-old mom in Auburn, Washington, who, according to the charges filed against her, beat her adorable three-year-old daughter Nava so badly that the little girl died on June 9. But it now appears that the allegedly fatal beating the young mom dished out to her child was far from the first time she violently attacked the toddler.
A day care worker told KCPQ TV News on Monday that she saw “huge” bruises on the child’s bottom more than one year ago — injuries far too severe to be the result of a routine spanking.
The day care worker, whose identity was withheld by the TV news station, said that she reported what she saw to the Child Protective Services agency of the Washington Department of Social and Health Services — but nothing ever happened.
The station also reported uncovering several other complaints about apparent abuse being inflicted on little Nava.
But in response, the CPS issued nothing more than the following statement.
“At this point in time, the Department of Social and Health Services can say only that it has not had an open Child Protective Services case with this family.”
Something terrible was happening to the toddler, however. When she died, she was found to suffer from a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, broken arms, and a snapped wrist — plus the severe internal bleeding that ultimately proved fatal.
All of the injuries were the result of vicious punches and slaps rained down on Nava by her mother, according to court records, as well as by her dad, 24-year-old DeMarco Devontraye Jackson
Though the records say that Jackson was Nava’s father, it appears that the deceased little girl’s biological father was from a previous relationship of Tatiana Baker’s. Jackson and Baker had another baby together.
Police said that baby was there in the house on the 700 block of Auburn’s 27th Street Southeast when they arrived and found Nava dead.
It was Jackson who called 911 to report that the little girl was unconscious. But medical examiners said that Nava had been dead for hours by the time police got there.
Jackson also told police that his girlfriend Tatiana beat the girl savagely at least five times over the week leading up to the toddler’s death.
He also admitted hitting the child himself, strangely asserting that his own blows were intended to make the child understand that the beatings were intended as punishment for bad behavior, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer .
Baker herself admitted to police that she “whooped” her child with a belt on the day of Nava’s death because the little girl spit some food at her.
The tragedy took place just two weeks after a couple in Indiana were charged in the killing of their own one-year-old baby, a child who, according to a medical examiner, had been stomped to death.
Both Tatiana Marie Baker and DeMarco Devontraye Jackson have been charged with second-degree murder in the horrifying and heartbreaking death of their little daughter, Nava.
[Images: KCPQ TV News Screen Grabs]