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Ex-NFL Player Arrested In 5-Year-Old’s Death Allegedly Forced Her To Exercise As Punishment Because She Was ‘Chunky’
Former running back Cierre Wood, 28, and the girl’s mother, Amy Taylor, 25, have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of La’Rayah Patra Nicole Lamont Davis.
A former NFL player allegedly forced his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter to vigorously exercise because she was “chunky” just before the young girl died.
Former running back Cierre Wood, 28, and the girl’s mother, Amy Taylor, 25, have been charged with first-degree murder after La’Rayah Patra Nicole Lamont Davis died at a Las Vegas area hospital after the couple used exercise, spanking, and sitting on the child as forms of punishment, authorities said according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Wood allegedly told authorities he had forced the young girl to do sit ups the day she died after she refused to learn her letters and numbers. As she was doing the workout, she fell back and hit her head on the carpet.
At first, he thought the girl was faking an injury but she stumbled when she got up. He told police he put the girl, who was breathing heavily at the time, in the shower and splashed water on her face. He then tried to blow air into her mouth but a “red chunky” fluid came out of her nose, according to an arrest report obtained by KVVU-TV.
After she became unresponsive, he called 911. The girl was cold to the touch when paramedics arrived.
Taylor had been at the store at the time, but she later told authorities she had spanked the girl three times before she left because the child had bitten her earlier in the day.
She also admitted to sitting on the child as punishment a week before her death.
“I honestly feel like when I sat on her I [explicit] her up … and now I don’t have a child now,” she allegedly told police.
The couple also reportedly told authorities that Davis had been complaining of chest pain and hadn’t been able to eat complete meals in the days before her death.
The Clark County coroner’s office has concluded the girl died from multiple blunt force injuries and was covered in visible injuries from her forehead to her thighs.
In court Tuesday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Jobe said she had also suffered from a lacerated liver and contusions to her diaphragm and lungs before her death.
“Once you see them, you can’t unsee them,” a judge said in court after reviewing photos of the alleged abuse.
Both Wood and Taylor denied that they had abused the 5-year-old, according to the report, and suggested the bruises may have come from an earlier fall at the park.
Taylor told investigators she disciplined her daughter with spankings, either by belt or with her hand, while Wood told police he preferred to use exercise as punishment. He allegedly told police he had the girl do sit ups and run laps to get her “on the right path due to her being ‘chunky’.”
A judge has denied bond for the couple.
Wood once played for the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks. He spent most of his professional career playing on practice squads, according 247 Sports.
