MAN CHARGED WITH RAPE & MURDER OF HIS 8 DAY OLD INFANT DAUGHTER!

MAN CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER OF BABY
Category: News and Politics

Monday, December 3, 2007

Father charged with sexual assault, murder of baby
BY KIM KOZLOWSKI / The Detroit News
LINCOLN PARK -- Prosecutors charged a Lincoln Park man today in the death and sexual assault of his 8-day-old daughter, who died from massive bleeding and blood poisoning after the attack.

Christopher Ryan Richardson, 21, was charged with felony murder, and first-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree child abuse. The murder charges carry mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole, while the maximum penalty for the other charges are life in prison and 15 years, respectively.

Richardson vehemently denied the charges during his arraignment this afternoon, calling the acts "psychotic."

"Never in my life would I do some (expletive) like this," Richardson said, as several people in 25th District Court shed tears but declined to comment afterward.

The charges came after Nevaeh Ann Richardson was rushed to Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital with blood coming from her mouth and rectum on the day after Thanksgiving shortly before midnight. She died the following day and the Wayne County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Authorities said the child's death stemmed from digital anal penetration.

The infant also suffered from bruises on her arms, legs, head and injuries to her genitals before she died, Worthy added.

"We in law enforcement have seen many horrendous crimes but this is one of the worst when someone will harm an 8-day-old infant," she said.

Nevaeh, which is heaven spelled backward, was living with Richardson, her mother and paternal grandmother when the crime happened.

Richardson was charged last week with domestic violence, third offense, for assaulting and threatening the child's mother on the night Nevaeh was taken to the hospital. He was being held in the Lincoln Park jail with a cash bond of $100,000.

District Court Judge David A. Bajorek increased Richardson's bond to $1 million with the three new charges, noting that Richardson recently failed to appear in a Southgate court for an assault and battery charge and for a probation violation in Roscommon.

With his head hung and tears streaming occasionally down his face, Richardson asked Bajorek if could take blood or lie detector tests to prove his innocence.

"I didn't do it, man," Richardson insisted.

A preliminary hearing will be held Tuesday on Richardson's domestic violence charge. A preliminary examination on the murder and assault charges is scheduled for Dec. 11 at 1:30 p.m