A Washington, D.C., man allegedly beat his girlfriend’s 2-month-old daughter to death in a jealous rage before attempting to blame the killing on his 6-year-old autistic, nonverbal son, prosecutors say.
Demetrius Beatty, 40, was charged Tuesday in the baby’s death, weeks after police say he warned the children’s mother that he would kill the twins if she left them alone in his care.
The fatal attack happened Aug. 16 at Beatty’s home on New Jersey Avenue. According to an arrest affidavit, officers arrived to find him holding the severely injured, unresponsive infant.
Before police reached the apartment, Beatty allegedly tried to implicate his young son. During a confusing 911 call, he claimed his “autistic son” had attacked baby Khamyah Honesty, while providing officers with the wrong apartment number and an incorrect age for the boy.
“I guess my autistic son got to the 2-month-year-old daughter and was fighting her and he damaged her pretty good. Her face is swollen, her nose is bleeding. I need help quick,” Beatty said, according to court documents.
“I stepped out in the hallway for a second with the other kids and he was in there by himself. Him and her. And he attacked her.”
Beatty, who acknowledged using drugs, had been caring for Khamyah, her twin sister and three other children, officials said. He allegedly told an officer that he was outside the apartment when he heard a thud. When he went back inside, he claimed he found the baby “on the f–king floor face down,” while his son stood nearby clapping and smiling.
“I know my son, he gets into something,” Beatty said, according to the affidavit. He later added: “He beat that girl ass.”
Beatty also claimed that his autistic son displayed “negative behavior toward his siblings” because he believed his father loved them more. He said the boy often hit himself and was “out of this world strong.”
When asked for the baby’s name, Beatty reportedly told officers she was called “Maya.” He also said he did not know her birth date because she was not his biological child, while insisting that he was the “baby’s protector and the protector of the home,” according to the records.
Khamyah suffered multiple fractures, a “flattened” nasal bridge and other head injuries. She died several hours later.
A forensic pathologist determined that the injuries were too severe to have been caused by a child, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Beatty attacked the infant because he was jealous that the mother of his two children had become pregnant with the twins during an affair. Authorities said Beatty told investigators he was not “happy” and was “bitter.” He said the pair were no longer together but continued co-parenting her five children.
The mother was grocery shopping when the attack occurred. She told police that Beatty had warned her days earlier that he would kill the twins if she left them with him while visiting their father, who is incarcerated.
“If you leave them b–ches here, them b–ches are going to be dead,” Beatty allegedly told her, according to her statement to police.
“Mighty funny that you made that comment and I come back from the grocery store and my daughter dead,” she said. However, investigators indicated that she apparently denied Beatty could have caused the baby’s death.
The alleged killing was not the first serious injury suffered by Khamyah Honesty.
Police said that just weeks earlier, the infant fell approximately 75 feet down an escalator after slipping from a car seat. Investigators said her mother appeared to minimize that incident.
Beatty also allegedly confined the twins in a closet because they were crying and smelled bad.
Investigators said the four surviving children displayed signs of neglect and had unexplained injuries. Social services have since removed them from the home.
Cops said the family was living in deplorable and filthy conditions, and that pills and marijuana were left out in the open.
Beatty also admitted to using fentanyl days before the murder.
Tragically, a relative of the twins’ father had been trying for two months to have the city’s Child and Family Services Agency check on the kids out of concern for their safety, the court documents said.
Beatty has been charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children.
He was ordered to be held without bond and is due back in federal court Sept. 28.
