A lengthy investigation into a toddler’s violent death in February led to the arrest Tuesday of the girl’s uncle, according to Richmond County authorities.
Jerome Edward Hughs, 36, of the 3700 block of Banbury Place, Hephzibah, was arrested on a Grand Jury Arrest warrant in connection with the death of 17-month-old Kaidence Alexander.
The girl died Feb. 27, a week after she was first taken to Georgia Regents University Hospital. An autopsy by the Atlanta GBI Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the girl’s death a homicide and showed she had been suffocated.
She was asphyxiated by unknown means, causing the girl’s brain to swell, a report says. Authorities also found the victim with several broken ribs and hemorrhages on the brain, which were old injuries.
“Alexander had been in the care of Hughs and his wife for some time prior to this incident,” sheriff’s Sgt. Michael McDaniel Sr. said in a press release. “Exact details cannot be released at this time, but this case was an intricate investigation and required extensive assistance from the GBI Crime Lab, DFACS and the Child Advocacy Center.”
Hughs has been booked into the Richmond County Jail where he is being held without bond.
