A former NFL player and his girlfriend were arrested on child abuse charges in connection with the death of a 5-year-old girl, police said.
Cierre Wood was in custody late April 10 along with his girlfriend Amy Taylor, 25.
The Las Vegas Metro Police told Fox 5 that Wood and Taylor were arrested after Taylor’s daughter died on Tuesday night at Summerlin Hospital.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the girl as La’Rayah Davis and said she died around 7:30 p.m.
#EXCLUSIVE: Former NFL football player Cierre Wood was arrested Tuesday night in Las Vegas on first-degree child abuse charges, police said. @chrisredreports has more.
Story: https://t.co/y2vJsi1ZaZ pic.twitter.com/JrkK4Tiuc9
— FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) April 11, 2019
Wood was charged with first-degree child abuse, reported KLAS.
The cause of death for the girl was not confirmed. It wasn’t clear if Taylor was also charged with child abuse.
Little information was released about the situation. Wood and Taylor were expected in court on Thursday.
Wood played for Notre Dame and left school a year early to enter the NFL draft. He went undrafted but played for several teams, including the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and Buffalo Bills.
Child Abuse
An estimated 674,000 children were determined to be victims of maltreatment in 2017, according to the Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.
Of the victims, about 75 percent were neglected, 18 percent were physically abused, and 9 percent were sexually abused. Nationwide, an estimated 1,720 children died from abuse and neglect, a decline from the 1,750 children who died from the same in the previous year.
Officials said there was an increase in the number of referrals to Child Protective Services for an investigation but that there was a decline in the number of maltreatment cases, a phenomenon they will be probing.
Of the abused children, 25 percent were younger than 1 year old. Another 52 percent were between 1 year old and 5 years old. The children who were killed by abuse or neglect were also overwhelmingly young, with about half of the fatalities being younger than 1 year old. Boys made up 58 percent of the deaths.
Perpetrators of abuse or neglect are most often in the 25 to 34 age range. More than four-fifths (83.4 percent) of the perpetrators were between 18 and 44 years old. Perpetrators were more likely to be female.
How to Report Suspected Child Maltreatment
If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, contact your local child protective services office or law enforcement agency so officials can investigate and assess the situation.
Most states have a number to call to report abuse or neglect. To find out where to call, consult the State Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Numbers website.
The Childhelp organization can also provide crisis assistance and other counseling and referral services. Contact them at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).
“Every year more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies involving more than 6.6 million children (a referral can include multiple children),” according to Childhelp.