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StumbleBoyfriend facing sex assault charge in toddler’s death
Published Monday, June 15, 2009 | 3:15 p.m.
Updated Monday, June 15, 2009 | 4:34 p.m.
William Marshall
Sun Archives
A man accused of killing his girlfriend's toddler daughter is now facing a charge of sexual assault in the case, Metro Police said Monday.
William Marshall, who is in the Maricopa County jail after his arrest at a Phoenix area Motel 6 over the weekend, is accused of murder and sexual assault with a minor under 14 years of age, police said.
FBI agents and Phoenix law enforcement officials found the mother, 22-year-old Darrean Williams, and her boyfriend, William Marshall, 37, in Tempe, Ariz. late Saturday night, police said.
The toddler has been identified as 21-month-old Shia Travis, whose body was found in a trash bin in the 500 block of Sierra Vista Avenue about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, as two homeless men searched through the garbage for aluminum cans, police said.
Lt. Lew Roberts, chief of Metro Police's Homicide Section, said that when the tot's body was discovered, no one saw the "severe, blunt-force trauma" to the girl's head before she was removed from a trash bin.
The girl's body was found wrapped in a pillow case that detectives later matched to another one on a bed in Apartment 67 at 560 Sierra Vista, police said. That apartment had been rented by Williams and Marshall.
The child wore a diaper with a Winnie the Pooh design, size 4, and homicide investigators later found the same type of diapers on a coffee table inside the apartment.
Police had been called to that same apartment on May 20 on a domestic dispute call, law enforcement records indicated. One of the officers on the earlier call recognized the lifeless child taken from the trash bin, records said.
Although a television and lights were on inside the apartment, detectives didn't find anyone inside after they searched the residence. They found hairs that matched the child's in the bedroom and in the freezer of an empty refrigerator.
The Clark County Coroner's Office said it could take up to three months before autopsy results on the girl are complete.
However, an autopsy on Thursday revealed that the girl had died from a blow or blows to her head from fists or from being thrown against a wall. She had also been sexually penetrated, according to a police report.
The girl's mother is not facing charges, police said. But that could change once police complete their investigation, Officer Jay Rivera said today. The mother could face neglect or other charges, police said.
According to a police report, the girl's mother already was in the Phoenix area, where she worked as a prostitute, and had left her daughter with Marshall. She didn't know her daughter had been killed until Saturday night.
Marshall is expected to be extradited from Arizona to face the charges in Las Vegas, police said.
If he agrees, he could return to Southern Nevada this week. If he fights extradition it could take up to a month, police said.
Marshall has no known criminal record in Southern Nevada. Law enforcement in Arizona also said that he had no prior convictions in the Phoenix area.
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Where the hell did she think her child was when he showed up in Phoenix? I'm not buying what she's selling.
The electric chair isn't good enough for this piece of s**t!
No words are harsh enough for this worthless, horrible man. I hope he dies a horrible, torturous death. At the very least, he should be put away forever. But also should the mother. Too many women carelessly hook up with men who maim, rape, and kill their children. Just like this "mother" who left her baby in the care of a monster, she's proven to be as much of a uncaring monster as he is. If she's not stopped (and sterilized) she'll have another baby, hook up with another monster, and repeat the entire pitiful process all over again. The poor babies don't have a chance.
Maricopa County Jail? Get 'em Sheriff Joe!!
I am so disgusted. What posses people to sexually assault a baby/toddler/child?
"died from a blow or blows to her head from fists or from being thrown against a wall."
What?? Was the baby crying and this irritated the "man" who was in charge of her? Disgusting. The jails just need to release people like this to the public and let us do what we please with them... no questions asked.
Easy to make 'em, harder to raise 'em. Mister Marshall probably was seduced by the babies mother. Happens all the time. He should be released on probation, and allowed to continue his life. Looks like a good guy to me...
DEATH PENALTY if convicted.
South Texas Deathride
what the heck is hair doing in a freezer? She is just as guilty as he, she was in arizona to sell herself, oh please?? spare me.
WOMEN.....stop leaving your children with random men!! He is a pimp for god sake and she a good for nothing whore.. He should be tortured an raped for a good 10 years then executed. She should spend atleast 15 yrs behind bars and have a forced tubal ligation. This poor baby, sorry this happened to you. Your in a better place!
Hurting our children has to stop they were brought into this world to" Love" not hurt and kill. I hope the mother and boyfriend both gets what they deserve. The Mother is just as responsible for leaving her baby with that man. I would also like to know why hair was in the freezer. I can't imagine what that poor little baby went thru and I hope she gets justice. Kids needs more protection from their parents . "Rest In Peace" Little Shia , you are in heaven now where nobody can hurt you any more.
If that man dont get the Death Penalty then little Shia wont get justice.It won't bring little Shia back but at least that man cant hurt another child.Children dont deserve these abuses and losing their life,I want justice for these babies who is hurt and killed if the judges cant do it then let us do it for them.
Yet another example of an unwed mother (oops, sorrrry...not allowed to "judge"!) who puts her selfish need for having a man in her life before the welfare of her child.
Cases like this happen all the time, folks, and almost every time, the umm, mother, is not married to the father and the perpetrator is a boyfriend that is not the father of the victim.
Funny how the instances of such abuse are so much rarer in an intact (and, no, I'm not referring to a necessarily wealthier or "happy happy" family-just one that is INTACT).
But, like I said, can't judge, wouldn't want to judge! Thanks, Baby Boomers of the 60s, for instilling
that bit of moral wisdom that removed any sense of shame or embarrassment for having children
out of wedlock. After all, didn't Murphy Brown and the cadre of Hollywood elite have a gay old time
eviscerating Dan Quayle for daring to suggest that unwed motherhood should not be condoned and
be acceptable in our culture as just another lifestyle choice? Ah, yes, who are we to say what
constitutes a "family"?
I'll bet that poor dead baby whose mother left her in the care of her "daddy" would have something
to say about that question.
Hmm! My comment was removed! This guy should receive the death penalty for sure. But will he?
Narcissa, I agree with you. I am a baby boomer and my generation sucks! Noone wants to be responsible for their actions. Love and peace and all that crap. Look where it's gotten us!
You have to pass a test to get a drivers license but you can have kids at will...
As an African-American female, it hurts more than you can imagine to know that our children are being killed and victimized by individuals not of blood. There are so many parents (black and white) willing to adopt these children. If you're not prepared take care of the baby, use some birth control. If you have a child and can't take care of him/her give to a relative or take some time to ensure that someone else can. You're not without options, you just choose to ignore and deny! My heart hurts.