Four-Year-Old Girl Beaten to Death in Spanish Lookout
Ayanna Bennett
A post mortem conducted today confirmed that four-year-old Ayanna Bennett was beaten to death. Ayanna was given up for foster care and had been living in Spanish Lookout with her foster family since September seventh. The little girl died on Friday morning. Suspicion quickly grew as injuries were seen on the little girl’s body. The foster parents remain in police custody. It is unclear how long she had been beaten. Chairman of Spanish Lookout, Harry Letkeman put out a statement on what he described as the sudden yet unexplained death of the little girl. He says “On September 7th, 2023, our community members opened their home to Ayanna as their foster child. Opening their home also signaled the welcoming of our entire community of the young child. Our Spanish Lookout community is no stranger to fostering children, as many of our families have been loving foster parents and families for many children over the past years…As a community, we look to the authorities to continue its investigation and establish the cause of Ayanna’s sudden death.” Letkeman says that the community will work with investigators. And, today Police Commissioner Chester Williams provided the latest details of this case. According to Williams, Ayanna was beaten because she was unable or unwilling to identify the color of a truck.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“The pathologist today conducted a post mortem examination on the body of the child and certified that she died from multiple trauma which would indicate that she was beaten severely and that beating was what actually caused her death. Police have also detained both foster parents. They are still in police custody. They were charged based on advice of the DPP over the weekend for aggravated assault. And now that the post mortem examination has been concluded, the result of that has been forwarded to the DPP and we will now await further instructions from her as it relates to her and if possible, further charges. I can saw that the both foster parents have admitted to having lashed the child with a belt occurring to them. But I don’t know if a belt would cause that amount of force as the doctors, as the doctor had prescribed following post-mortem examination. So, like I said before, we’re waiting now for the DPP for the instruction in terms of original charges that may follow on the foster parents. I have asked of the investigator who witnessed the post mortem to find out from the doctor if in fact the injuries appeared to be over a period of time or just moments before the death. I am not sure if the doctor had given an answer to that question, but the foster parents admitted to having lash her over twenty four hours period, per se, due to the fact that they might have been teaching her some colors issue and the child refused to call out the colors as was being shown to her by the foster parents. The law under justifiable use of force and harm, I believe section thirty eight of the criminal code, do speak to the fact that parents can chastise a child. But it also goes on to say that the chastisement of the child must not be too excessive. And in this case where that so called chastising is so severe that it caused the death of the child, then certainly the parents can be held to account. It might not be a child of murder, but at the very least manslaughter. Well, it is a sad situation. I must say for the mother. I’m sure that she’s going through her own difficulties at this time, coping with the loss of yet a second child. I know that social department is dealing with the matter. They’re addressing it quite well. And I will leave that for them to deal with as it falls within the, the scope of their work.”
