(Cincinnati, OH) - Hamilton County's prosecutor says "as a father and a grandfather, I am sick."
Joe Deters announced today the murder indictment of LaTonya Austin. The 43-year-old South Fairmount woman is accused of aggravated murder and other charges in the death of her 2-year-old granddaughter, Zaila Lee. Deters says the child's body was found in a cooler on her grandmother's property.
The coroner's office has ruled that the little girl died as a result of a blow to the head. She also suffered postmortem injuries, according to Deters, including a deep cut near her hip and a broken right arm.
Prosecutor Deters says in a statement "it is impossible to comprehend the depravity of an individual able to, not only strike a 2-year-old so hard to cause her death, but to then attempt to conceal that crime by stuffing the child’s lifeless body into a cooler." Deters says he is praying for the victim's siblings and for Cincinnati Police who had to invedstigate a horrible scene.
If convicted on all charges, Deters says Austin faces life in prison.
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