A Georgia resident, Khaliq Woods, 29, has been convicted of felony murder, aggravated battery, and first-degree child cruelty in connection with the 2019 death of his infant daughter, Kamila Woods. The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office announced the verdict on Tuesday, stating that Woods had been sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
The prosecution presented a detailed case against Woods, revealing that he had caused fatal injuries to his daughter by violently squeezing her. Woods had initially attempted to attribute these injuries to a playful interaction, claiming that he had been tossing his daughter in the air and catching her.
The jury took 10 hours of deliberation before reaching a guilty verdict. Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson expressed her condolences to the bereaved family, stating, “We grieve with the family of the deceased child Kamila Woods. This is a tragedy that an infant’s life was taken.”
The prosecution further revealed that Woods, who was 23 at the time of the incident, had himself taken Kamila to Northside Duluth Medical Center on the morning of November 30, 2019. The infant was declared dead on arrival. Woods had been in charge of Kamila’s care the previous day after her mother had dropped her off at his apartment.
Woods had initially told the police that he had been playing with Kamila, tossing her in the air and catching her. He claimed that during one of these catches, he felt the infant’s side go in and heard wheezing. He put her to bed around 10 p.m. and checked on her again at 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., noticing that she had not moved and was refusing to take a bottle or pacifier.
However, a search warrant executed on Woods’ phone revealed that he had searched for ‘symptoms of broken ribs in children’ on the internet at least nine times around 2 a.m. The autopsy report of Kamila showed multiple rib fractures, a lacerated liver, and bleeding and swelling of the brain. The injuries were consistent with being violently squeezed and shaken, according to evidence presented at the trial.
District Attorney Austin-Gatson concluded, “We pray that the outcome of this trial will help Kamila’s family heal.”