Toddler Dies After Rape And Beating

A 19-year-old Pine Bluff man is in jail on charges accusing him of raping and battering his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.

Authorities say the toddler died in a hospital Monday, and a capital murder charge is likely to be filed against Marcha Jarmane Smith.

The toddler was identified by Pine Bluff police as La'Niyah Beard. She was first taken by Smith to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff on Sunday morning, and then transferred by air to Arkansas Children's Hospital at Little Rock. Ginger Daril, a spokeswoman for Children's Hospital, said the little girl was taken off life support and died Monday. Police and prosecutors said doctors at the Little Rock hospital said Beard had suffered severe trauma to her head and body, and there was evidence that she had been raped.

At a court hearing, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Dennis found probable cause to hold Smith on charges of rape and first-degree battery. According to Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kyle Hunter, Smith told police he had spanked the toddler because she wet her pants. He later said the girl fell and hit her head and stopped breathing when she ran from him while he was getting ready to give her a bath.