Crime & Safety
Bartow Mother Arrested in Child's Death
The mother of Kaylee Rayne Johnson initially told Cherokee authorities she found her daughter lying at the bottom of the home's basement stairs.
The Bartow County mother of a 17-month-old child and her former boyfriend have both been arrested in the death of the toddler.
Cherokee Sheriff's Office detectives have arrested Jamie Beck, 23, of Bartow County and Michael Naples, 31, of Woodstock, and charged them both with felony murder and cruelty to children in the first degree.
Cherokee deputies on Oct. 14, 2012, responded to a call of an injured child at a home located at 304 Red Bird Way in Woodstock. A 17-month-old girl, identified as Kaylee Rayne Johnson, was found unresponsive at the home.
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Beck reportedly told deputies she woke up to get a glass of water and discovered her child unresponsive at the bottom of the basement stairs.
The child was transported to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite where she died from her injuries just two days later.The final lab results from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concluded the cause of death was "blunt force trauma to the head" and classified the death as a homicide.
"It was determined that the injuries to the child were not indicative of those of a child falling down stairs," Lt. Jay Baker said in a news release.
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Both suspects are in custody at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center with no bond.
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