Toddler Beaten to Death with Basketball Shoe

I know this is a Gospel blog but sometimes a story touches you so hard and deep that you can't ignore it. I have children and yes they do work my last nerve but I love them dearly. Children are a blessing from God - "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward" (Psalm 127:3).  The world is getting darker and darker and Saints we must be a light unto the world.

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A Memphis, Tenn., man was babysitting his girlfriend's toddler when she defecated on the floor. The man reacted to the accident by beating the 2-year-old toddler to death with a basketball shoe.

Calvin Jones, 23, admitted to local authorities that the forms of discipline he used on toddler Saniiyah Kuykendall included smacking her around with the back of his hand, then beating her with a basketball shoe.

When the toddler's 21-year-old mother, Anisha Alford, returned home, the little girl complained of not feeling well and, when touched, felt cold. An eyewitness at the apartment complex where the couple lives told police that at about 11:15 p.m. on the night of the incident, the child was seen spitting and gagging, and that her eyes were rolling toward the back of her head. The person advised the couple to take the child to a nearby hospital emergency room but the suggestion fell on deaf ears.

Instead, the couple went to bed, and when they woke up the next morning, the child was dead. Jones is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated child abuse. Alford is charged with one count of aggravated child abuse.

There were also two siblings, 4 and 1, in the home at the time. The children were placed with grandparents.

Police records do not indicate whether Alford was aware of the beating.

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