A Coney Island man was convicted of second-degree murder in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Oct. 24 for beating his 1-year-old daughter to death on Father’s Day last year.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said that Shaquan Taylor’s murder of his daughter, Nylah Lewis, was nothing short of deplorable.
“On a day where the importance of fathers is celebrated, this defendant committed an unforgivable crime against his own child,” Gonzalez said. “Instead of protecting and nurturing his daughter, the defendant caused the injuries that tragically ended her short life.”
Taylor texted Nylah’s mother, Tammy Lewis, around 2:30 pm on June 18, 2017, according to the district attorney’s office, and told her that Nylah was having trouble breathing at his West 32nd Street apartment. When Lewis arrived at the apartment, she found the baby unconscious on the couch — with bruising, swelling, and lacerations on her face — and promptly fled with Nylah to call 911.
Taylor followed Lewis to the lobby and began beating her in the neck and face while she was still holding the baby, the district attorney’s office said, adding that Taylor then grabbed Nylah and handed her to a passerby and continued beating Lewis before he fled on foot.
Police found Taylor soon afterwards hiding in the bushes in a lot near his building, according to the district attorney’s office.
Nylah was rushed to Coney Island Hospital — suffering a fractured skull, loss of oxygen to the brain, and bruising all over her body — before being transferred to Maimonides Medical Center, where she spent five days in a coma before she died of her injuries on June 23.
Taylor’s sentencing is set for Nov. 7, and he faces up to 25 years to life in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.
