Gruesome Details Released in Torture, Death of 8-Month-Old Baby in Decatur

New details were released to the public Wednesday from the investigation of the death of an 8-month-old Decatur, Alabama girl.

According to our news partners at The Decatur Daily, the girl who police say was murdered and sexually tortured by a Decatur man had genital bruising that came from penetration. This information was contained within a police affidavit filed in court Wednesday.

The girl, born June 1, 2020, also had welts on her neck, bruising on her face, shoulder and legs and a bite mark on her arm, police said.

“That’s an innocent child who had not a chance in this world against that type of evil,” Decatur police Detective Timothy Pace said Wednesday.

“She was always joyful, always playful,” Nichols said. “We have lots of memories.”

22-year-old Cameron Almen Elliott is being held in Morgan County Jail without bond on charges of capital murder, sexual torture and felony drug possession.

The girl was removed from life support and died Monday. She was declared dead at 9:45 a.m. that day when her brain activity ceased, according to Morgan County Coroner Jeff Chunn. He said her body was transported to the state Department of Forensic Sciences office in Huntsville for an autopsy.

In an affidavit filed in Morgan County District Court on Wednesday, Pace wrote that the girl “was transported to Children’s of Alabama hospital due to the severity of her condition. (She) was admitted into the critical care unit where it was discovered (she) had vaginal injury in addition to the apparent bruising that was only possible through penetration.”

Sexual torture under Alabama law requires penetration with an “inanimate object.” It is a Class A felony punishable by up to life in prison. Capital murder is punishable by death or life without parole.

Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson said he is cautious about deciding whether he will seek the death penalty in a case.

“I don’t ever want to rush to judgment on that. But honestly, in this case, I’m going to have to find something that convinces me not to,” he said.

In a February 10 search warrant affidavit, Detective Joshua Daniell said a rape kit was used on the girl “and the results are unknown at this time.” The search warrant requested authorization to take a DNA swab from Elliott, which was granted, for purposes of comparing it to DNA gathered for the rape kit.

Anderson said he was horrified by the case.

“It’s just makes you sick when you hear of a child being treated this way, of the innocence that was murdered,” Anderson said.

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