By Jeremy Walsh
A Brooklyn man is behind bars after allegedly beating his girlfriend’s infant daughter to death in her Corona apartment, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Allen Shannon, 27, was arraigned Saturday on charges of second-degree murder in the death of 19-month-old Aniyah Levant and was ordered held without bail. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison, Brown said.
“The defendant is accused of beating a helpless 19-month-old infant for whom he was supposedly caring,” Brown said in a statement. “His alleged actions are incomprehensible and should result in him spending the rest of his life in prison.”
The baby’s mother, 22-year-old Candice Jones, was going to work and left her daughter with Shannon at her apartment around 9 p.m. March 24, the DA said. Early the next morning, Shannon allegedly called Jones and told her something was wrong with the baby, the DA said.
When Jones returned to her apartment on 103rd Street, she found her daughter in deteriorating condition, the DA said. Shannon drove her to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, Brown said.
Aniyah was pronounced dead around 4:30 p.m. last Thursday with blunt impact injuries to the head and torso, authorities said. The city medical examiner determined she had suffered fractures and internal injuries, including a broken jaw, broken ribs, a lacerated liver and spleen, bruising on her face and internal bleeding.
After driving to the hospital, Shannon allegedly went to a female friend’s residence and asked her to tell police he had been there since March 22, the DA said. When the friend asked why, Shannon allegedly said he had hit Candice and she dropped the baby to the floor, Brown said. Jones told detectives Shannon had not hit her nor did she drop her daughter, police said.
Shannon was out on parole on a weapons possession conviction from 2007, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4536.
