DNA tests proved that the child found in the crawl space of a Monument home in May is, indeed, Genesis Sims, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
Tuesday night KRDO-TV NewsChannel 13 in Colorado Springs said a couple claiming to be the child’s father, Hanif Sims, and his girlfriend, Monique Lynch, had called the station, saying they did not kill the child but found her dead on the shower floor and then hid her body.
“We put flowers, we prayed; everything. The only thing is, what society says we (should) have to inform or call the police and tell them something happened to our child,” the woman claiming to be Lynch said.
The male caller said, “We don’t know what the hell happened to her. I didn’t kill her.”
They said they wanted their side of the story told before they turned themselves in.
Sims and Lynch, both 29, have eluded authorities since the child’s body was discovered two months ago. Investigators have searched for them in New Jersey, where they are from, and Southern California, their presumed destination after they left Colorado.
The couple, Genesis, and Lynch’s 13-year-old son, Davon, lived in the townhome at 764 Century Place in Monument until the early last year.
Though investigators aren’t sure when Genesis died, she would now be 9 years old. Workers remodeling the rental property found her remains on May 14.
El Paso County officials have said publicly that the couple is wanted for questioning and classified the case as a “suspicious death.” but court records show the Sheriff’s Department last month obtained an arrest warrant for Sims alleging second-degree assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury and child abuse causing bodily injury. The offense date on the warrant is Nov. 1, 2008.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts can call 719-390-5555.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
