A former NFL player has been charged with murdering his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter.
Wood was initially charged with first-degree child abuse but was charged with first-degree murder after La'Rayah’s death was ruled a homicide by the Clark County coroner’s office. Taylor was also charged with first-degree murder.
La’Rayah suffered a lacerated liver, contusions to her diaphragm and lungs, and had visible injuries from her forehead to her thighs, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Jobe said in court. Tobiasson, the judge, said she'd seen pictures of the injuries. “Once you see them, you can’t unsee them,” the judge said.
Taylor told officers that she and Wood were walking La'Rayah to school on April 9 when the girl bit Taylor on the hand so she “popped” her, explaining that she spanked her on the bottom. When they got home, she spanked Davis three more times and made her stay in the corner before letting her take a nap.
Wood came home from work later that day and made the girl stand in the corner while he changed. He told police that he then tried to help her with her homework but she wouldn’t cooperate, so he made her do sit-ups. When she struggled to do the sit-ups, he made her run from one wall to another. She slipped, fell backward, and hit her head on the floor. Wood said he thought Davis was faking her injury but when she stumbled while getting up, he noticed she was breathing heavily. He put her in the shower and tried to perform CPR after putting her on a bed before calling 911.
Her father Danaun Davis, who lives in California, told the broadcaster that he can’t believe his daughter died.
“She had so many people that she touched, and she’s only 5. Her not to be alive and how much life she had. That’s the tragic thing about it,” he said. “She can’t be there no more. I can’t call her no more. Never thought I'd bury my child at 5 years old.”
“It’s disgusting and it’s heartbreaking,” Mallay Crownover, a family friend, added about the alleged murder.
Wood played for Notre Dame and left school a year early to enter the NFL draft. He went undrafted but played for several teams starting in 2013, including the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and Buffalo Bills.