A 1-year-old girl who was badly beaten by her father in Coney Island on Father’s Day has died, police and a spokeswoman for Maimonides Medical Center said.
Nylah Lewis was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m. Friday, according to spokeswoman Jodi Cross.
“We at Maimonides Medical Center extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, who wish to have their privacy respected at this sad and difficult time,” the hospital said in a statement.
On Sunday, Nylah had been left in the care of her father, Shaquan Taylor, 19, who admitted to police he was the only one with her at the Coney Island apartment on West 32nd Street, near Surf Avenue, according to a criminal complaint.
But when Nylah’s mother, 17-year-old Tammy Lewis, arrived to pick up her daughter, she found the little girl unconscious with bruising, swelling and lacerations on her face, the complaint said.
Taylor claimed that Nylah fell off the bed while he was in the shower, but a child abuse specialist at Maimonides Medical Center said the injuries, including a fractured skull and global hypoxia, were not consistent with a fall from the bed, per the complaint.
Lewis told police that as she rushed Nylah out of the building, Taylor followed her and attacked her in the lobby, causing bruises and cuts on her head and face, according to the complaint.
Taylor, 18, was arrested just outside the apartment building, and charged with assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child younger than 17, police said. He could face upgraded charges now that Nylah has died, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said.
