COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A man who once told police that his girlfriend beat his daughter to death because the girl had soiled herself is now headed to trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the case.
A judge ruled Tuesday there is enough evidence to try Hanif Sims on the murder charge, The Gazette reported.
He originally faced a child abuse charge in the death of his daughter, Genesis. The girlfriend, Monique Lynch, had been charged with first-degree murder, but that was dropped after she pleaded guilty to child abuse causing death and agreed to testify against Sims. Lynch faces 10 to 32 years in prison when she is sentenced June 30.
Sims and Lynch were arrested in July, two months after contractors found the body of Genesis Sims under a vacant home in Monument, about 50 miles south of Denver. The couple lived there in 2008, when Genesis was 7.
An arrest affidavit filed shortly after the two were arrested alleged that Lynch beat Genesis with a belt. Sims said he told Lynch to call 911, but that Lynch refused because she was wanted on an arrest warrant, according the affidavit filed by the El Paso County sheriff’s office.
The girl was near death for two days, but Lynch and Sims didn’t get her medical help, according to the affidavit.
Shortly before their arrest, a couple claiming to be Sims and Lynch told KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs that they found Genesis unconscious in the bathroom and hid her body after having a ceremony with prayers and flowers.
At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, new details emerged.
In an April 29 interview at the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Lynch gave investigators an eyewitness account of Genesis’ death, which she characterized as part of a long history of child abuse by Sims, The Gazette reported.
Sims’ attorney, Matthew Werner, said in court Tuesday that Lynch’s statements since her arrest have been riddled with “wonderful inconsistencies.”
Lynch told investigators Sims allegedly grabbed his daughter by the throat and punched her in the chest, causing her to collapse, sheriff’s Detective Ralph Losasso testified Tuesday.
When his attempts to revive her failed, Sims allegedly told his girlfriend he wanted to dissolve the body in the tub with acid, Losasso said.
Sims changed his mind after learning he would need a license to get the acid he needed, Losasso said.
The couple moved out of the home in early 2009. Investigators believed that Sims and Lynch lived in a Los Angeles homeless shelter from March until December 2009. Two boys who had been living with Sims and Lynch weren’t with them when they were arrested.
Authorities said Sims and Lynch had left the children with a friend in California. Those children were later taken into custody by the California Department of Human Services.
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Information from: The Gazette,
