Murder charged filed in beating death of 17-month-old girl

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (AP) — A man accused of beating his girlfriend’s 17-month-old daughter to death in a Maplewood apartment was charged Thursday with second degree murder.

Authorities say Terrance Leslie, who was jailed on $2 million bail, filmed some of the abuse on his cellphone. The device recorded the 26-year-old Leslie, of Maplewood, saying he was upset that the child was crying.

Authorities were called to the apartment Tuesday evening on a report of a girl with significant injuries. The child had dark bruises on her back and abdomen and burns on her face and neck, an autopsy showed.

The autopsy determined her death was caused by “multiple traumatic injuries due to assault.” She suffered broken bones, internal bleeding in the brain and lacerations to internal organs. She also had injuries consistent with sexual assault, according to the Ramsey County medical examiner.

“Words cannot fully capture my feelings about what happened to this innocent and helpless young child,” county attorney John Choi said in a statement. “But know this: We will unrelentingly seek justice for her.”

Leslie was watching the child while her 18-year-old mother was at work, investigators said. The mother was originally jailed and then released without being charged.

Court documents do not list an attorney for Leslie.