2-Year-Old Dies By Homicide, Man Charged With Murder: Police

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — A Duluth man is jailed and charged with murder in connection with the death Sunday of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, according to a statement from the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Malik Kyhree Kennedy, 24, was arrested and charged with child cruelty Sunday night after Trinity Kyle’s mother, Rose Marie Kyle, found her daughter not breathing, said a Gwinnett police spokesperson. The three were staying at the Quality Inn on Venture Parkway, and Kennedy had been watching Trinity while Kyle was working.

Gwinnett firemen were unable to revive the girl, who was found with fingernail impressions to her cheeks, a swollen eye and forehead, and bruises to the rest of her body, according to the police statement.

Authorities added a murder charge Monday after an autopsy of the girl showed an injury to the back of her head, leading the county coroner to call the death a homicide.

Kennedy is charged with felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children. He’s being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Jail.