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A Pittsburgh grandmother was arrested over the death of her 3-year-old granddaughter after police discovered the dead child on a bloody mattress at a home in the city.
Denise Johnson, 56, was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, and abuse of a corpse, Pittsburgh Police said.
Police attended the home on Sunday morning after the Allegheny County Emergency Operations Center received a 911 call for a “suspicious death of a young female.”
In a criminal complaint file obtained by Law & Crime, investigators said they found the body of Ayla Miller at the apartment on East Ohio Street.
First responders described the child as being ‘cold to the touch’ with multiple injuries to the neck, face, and sternum, while “blood was located on the bed”, the report said.
Officials say that the 911 call was made by the child’s uncle.
Detectives described the horror scene as Miller was found ‘wearing a pink/light blue shirt with gray tights’. Her body was lying on the bloodied bed and injuries included ‘significant bruising along the cheekbone’.
The apartment was distinctly worn down as police observed a broken bedroom door and holes in the walls throughout the flat.
Miller’s most shocking injury included “A burn mark on her left ankle which is consistent with a cigarette burn.” The bruising on her body extended down her cheek, neck, right arm, elbow, and hand.
Authorities say that Miller had been staying with her grandmother for a month and her mother told police that she had seen her daughter on a Facetime call and “did not see any signs of physical trauma upon her face.”
Johnson allegedly told police that the child had fallen back on a coffee table after hitting her head with force – she then left the 3-year-old in bed in the days that followed and that she was going to turn herself in.
Prosecutors say that Johnson exchanged messages with Detective Anthony Beatty after he asked her to contact him. In one of those messages she allegedly wrote, "Something happened I have to TURN into the police.”
The detective advised Johnson, he would collect her to enable her to submit a confession.
Johnson responded saying: "Ok I'll be ready soon. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to hurt her, I truly didn't.
“When I knew she was hurt, I beat her butt for not listening and she fell into my table so hard.
“She hit her head and her back. I then told her to stand in corner but she couldn't as she kept falling down – I thought she was doing it because she was tired and being stubborn.
“I then told my other grandson to run her bath water. I got her in the tub and went in my room. She took her own bath and when I got back, she was under water, but she was still breathing, so I dried her, layed her down – she never woke up.
“Ater 2 days, I got really scared and I wanted to tell someone but was too scared.
“I'm sorry, I know I should have gotten help for her but she was already gone. I’ve just been crying, not eating, scared, numb, guilty. I'm so sorry I didn't mean it, I honestly, truly didn't.”
Police identified her grandson who alleged that his grandmother had beaten his young cousin leaving her with injuries that left her unable to move.
He claimed to have seen dried blood on Ayla's nose and head and disclosed that the trauma had allegedly been inflicted ‘with a large wooden stick’.
In the report, the boy alleged that his grandmother had used other instruments to beat Miller including a belt.
Johnson is now being held in Allegheny County Jail.
