A young girl is beat to death while her mother is at work In Memphis, Tennessee, on April 14, 2016, a four-year-old African-American girl named Zamiyah Taylor-Evans died in a tragic and violent incident. Her mother had entrusted her and her younger brother to the care of her ex-boyfriend, Richard Lassister, at an East Memphis motel while she was at work. When the mother returned, she made a horrifying discovery: Zamiyah was unresponsive, her small body covered in cuts and bruises.
Despite her mother's immediate call for help, it was too late to save the young girl.
The subsequent police investigation quickly led to Richard Lassister, who was found at a nearby bus stop. During questioning, Lassister admitted to hitting Zamiyah. He claimed that he had done so because she had woken up her younger brother. The visible injuries on Zamiyah's body told a grim story of the violence she had endured; she had a cut over her left eye and severe bruising on her face, chest, and back.
Following the investigation, Richard Lassister, who was 25 years old at the time, was arrested and faced serious charges for his alleged actions. He was indicted on charges of first-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child neglect. He was held on a $1 million bond. The case was assigned to the Shelby County District Attorney's Special Victims Unit, which is responsible for prosecuting cases involving severe physical abuse of children.
