VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A week after a woman was sentenced to 25 years for her role in her 7-year-old daughter’s death, the woman’s boyfriend was indicted on murder charges for the child’s fatal beating.
Kamia Jean-Baptiste,7, was airlifted to Florida Hospital, now AdventHealth, on March 6, 2018. She died of her injuries the next day. Investigators said evidence shows the girl was beaten with a fishing rod and later learned she was beaten several times the day before her death.
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Janee Dickson, 28, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Aug. 9 after pleading no contest in June to a charge of aggravated manslaughter.
Dickson testified before she was sentenced that she was in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, Brandon Williams, 31.
“I should’ve never had her around him,” Dickson said.
State prosecutors previously said they planned to file charges against Williams for his role in the girl’s death.
On Tuesday, a warrant was obtained for Williams on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child.
“Our 7-year-old victim was tortuously beaten and allowed to suffer for several hours before she was taken to the hospital for treatment – but it was too late to save her,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said. “This gut-wrenching crime demands our best efforts to seek accountability and justice.”
Dickson told investigators that on March 5, 2018, she and Williams were driving in DeLand with her daughter when Kamia asked to use the bathroom. Williams became angry and pulled the girl out of the car and began to beat her, according to the arrest warrant.
The mother told investigators that Williams told her he only stopped beating the girl after 20 minutes because he “had somewhere to be.” The beating continued later in the day near Beresford Cemetery where Williams broke a switch on Kamia’s arms and legs, officials said. The girl was breathing hard and kept asking for water, but Williams told Dickson to ignore her because “she was faking it,” according to authorities.
In the morning hours of March 6, Kamia stopped breathing, according to the report. After Kamia’s death, Dickson said Williams disposed of the items he used to beat the 7-year-old with. The girl’s mother told detectives he threatened her and had previously held a gun to her head.
Dickson eventually told detectives what happened to Kamia in June 2019.
After his arrest, Williams was interviewed by detectives prior to being taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail.