'She has cuts and she's been severely beaten'
RENTON, Wash. -- The man accused of beating his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter into a coma had beaten her dozens of times "like you'd beat a slave" with a belt as a part of her potty training, according to court documents.
Idris Turner, 30, has been booked into jail for investigation of felony assault of a child.
Investigators said Turner brought the girl into the emergency room at Valley Medical Center on Saturday afternoon. Doctors called police after they discovered the girl was suffering from a traumatic brain injury and other signs of possible abuse.
"Doctors noted that the tissue of the back (of her head) had been bruised so many times that it was no longer resilient to touch," the prosecutor noted.
The girl was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she is in a coma. Doctors said the girl suffered permanent brain damage and is likely to remain unresponsive.
Investigators said Turner had been taking care of the girl because her mother, who has just given birth on Nov. 19, was in the hospital for the last month of her pregnancy due to complications. Turner is not the father of the injured girl; however, he is the father of his girlfriend's newborn.
When questioned about the girl's injuries, Turner said he and the child were at his friend's apartment on Nov. 21 when he got into a fight with one of his two mistresses. Turner said the woman threw a CD tower which the child in the head. Then the woman pushed Turner, knocking the child face-first in to the railing, he said, according to court documents.
Turner said he had been reluctant to seek medical help, fearing the child's mother would be upset if the first time she heard from him in a month was because her child had been hurt. He said he was also afraid she'd be angry with him as he had been living with other women.
Turner later admitted to having beaten the child, police said, but maintained he believed her brain injury stemmed from the fight.
According to court documents, Turner said he beat the child as a part of her potty training. He said he'd make the girl sit on the toilet for one to three hours at a time until she would defecate and if she failed to do so, he would beat her.
He sometimes kept the child away from others, including her mother, due to injuries from the beatings, Turner told detectives.
One of Turner's mistresses said she saw him beating the child with a belt or an electrical cord more than 30 times. According to the documents, she said Turner, who was not her biological father, yelled "he had to beat her father out of her," and that "he was "training her to be a soldier so she could support Turner's new baby."
The woman said on Nov. 20, Turner beat the girl until she fell off the toilet, face-first onto bathroom floor. She and Turner used to support themselves by selling drugs. But when Turner began taking care of the child he began supporting all of them with the understanding the woman would stay home to nurse the child back to health after the beatings. The attacks intensified as the child's mother's delivery date neared, the woman said.
The other mistress said she once saw Turner beat the child, who was in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, with a belt at full force at least ten times. She told detectives he hit her "like you'd beat a slave," the documents said. She said Turner had both the fan and the water running, as if trying to hide the sound of the beating.
Both women told investigators that when they tried to intervene, Turner turned violent and yelled that he didn't need to be told how to parent, and "he wasn't going to prison, that he'd kill himself instead," the documents said.
The women said they finally convinced him to contact the child's mother who, according to the police report, saw the child needed medical attention and took her to the emergency room with Turner.
An acquaintance told detectives the day before the child was taken to the hospital, she saw her having a seizure and noticed she was "stiff," the statement said. When she asked Turner about what he had done to her, she said he "tripped out" and said he beats the child because she "plays mind games with him."
Police received a call from the foster mother of the child's mother. The woman said she had taken care of the child from April to October due to the mother's involvement in drugs. During that time, she said the girl's mother sometimes took the child for days and when the child returned, she often had new injuries.
The woman said she once took her to a local clinic and, after the doctor discovered injuries, notified police. The responding officer, however, dismissed the injuries as "normal," the document said.
In another alleged incident, a nurse saw turner beating the child while in her mother's hospital room at Swedish Hospital over the summer. Child Protective Services was notified, and the case worker said Turner was not to have any custody of the girl.
Turner was arrested on Nov. 30. He is being held at the King County Jail on $150,000 bail. No charges have been filed.
Turner's girlfriend is not in police custody, but her newborn baby has been placed in the care of state Child Protective Services.
Idris Turner, 30, has been booked into jail for investigation of felony assault of a child.
Investigators said Turner brought the girl into the emergency room at Valley Medical Center on Saturday afternoon. Doctors called police after they discovered the girl was suffering from a traumatic brain injury and other signs of possible abuse.
"Doctors noted that the tissue of the back (of her head) had been bruised so many times that it was no longer resilient to touch," the prosecutor noted.
The girl was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she is in a coma. Doctors said the girl suffered permanent brain damage and is likely to remain unresponsive.
Investigators said Turner had been taking care of the girl because her mother, who has just given birth on Nov. 19, was in the hospital for the last month of her pregnancy due to complications. Turner is not the father of the injured girl; however, he is the father of his girlfriend's newborn.
When questioned about the girl's injuries, Turner said he and the child were at his friend's apartment on Nov. 21 when he got into a fight with one of his two mistresses. Turner said the woman threw a CD tower which the child in the head. Then the woman pushed Turner, knocking the child face-first in to the railing, he said, according to court documents.
Turner said he had been reluctant to seek medical help, fearing the child's mother would be upset if the first time she heard from him in a month was because her child had been hurt. He said he was also afraid she'd be angry with him as he had been living with other women.
Turner later admitted to having beaten the child, police said, but maintained he believed her brain injury stemmed from the fight.
According to court documents, Turner said he beat the child as a part of her potty training. He said he'd make the girl sit on the toilet for one to three hours at a time until she would defecate and if she failed to do so, he would beat her.
He sometimes kept the child away from others, including her mother, due to injuries from the beatings, Turner told detectives.
One of Turner's mistresses said she saw him beating the child with a belt or an electrical cord more than 30 times. According to the documents, she said Turner, who was not her biological father, yelled "he had to beat her father out of her," and that "he was "training her to be a soldier so she could support Turner's new baby."
The woman said on Nov. 20, Turner beat the girl until she fell off the toilet, face-first onto bathroom floor. She and Turner used to support themselves by selling drugs. But when Turner began taking care of the child he began supporting all of them with the understanding the woman would stay home to nurse the child back to health after the beatings. The attacks intensified as the child's mother's delivery date neared, the woman said.
The other mistress said she once saw Turner beat the child, who was in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, with a belt at full force at least ten times. She told detectives he hit her "like you'd beat a slave," the documents said. She said Turner had both the fan and the water running, as if trying to hide the sound of the beating.
Both women told investigators that when they tried to intervene, Turner turned violent and yelled that he didn't need to be told how to parent, and "he wasn't going to prison, that he'd kill himself instead," the documents said.
The women said they finally convinced him to contact the child's mother who, according to the police report, saw the child needed medical attention and took her to the emergency room with Turner.
An acquaintance told detectives the day before the child was taken to the hospital, she saw her having a seizure and noticed she was "stiff," the statement said. When she asked Turner about what he had done to her, she said he "tripped out" and said he beats the child because she "plays mind games with him."
Police received a call from the foster mother of the child's mother. The woman said she had taken care of the child from April to October due to the mother's involvement in drugs. During that time, she said the girl's mother sometimes took the child for days and when the child returned, she often had new injuries.
The woman said she once took her to a local clinic and, after the doctor discovered injuries, notified police. The responding officer, however, dismissed the injuries as "normal," the document said.
In another alleged incident, a nurse saw turner beating the child while in her mother's hospital room at Swedish Hospital over the summer. Child Protective Services was notified, and the case worker said Turner was not to have any custody of the girl.
Turner was arrested on Nov. 30. He is being held at the King County Jail on $150,000 bail. No charges have been filed.
Turner's girlfriend is not in police custody, but her newborn baby has been placed in the care of state Child Protective Services.