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15-month-old girl killed by skull fracture. Signs of severe abuse led to dad being charged

By Stacia Glenn, The News Tribune

A St. Louis police officer is accused of driving a van too roughly to punish two prisoners, court documents claim.

By Stacia Glenn, The News Tribune

A 15-month-old Lakewood girl showed signs of severe abuse before she died from "the worst" skull fracture doctors had seen in a young child, according to court records.

Nala Gantt was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center Oct. 6 and died three days later. The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide.

On Monday, prosecutors charged her father, 42-year-old Matthew Gantt, with second-degree murder and tampering with a witness.

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He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.

Gantt is also accused of trying to stop his wife of three years from speaking to detectives after Nala was injured.

His wife, who is pregnant, had a broken arm and black eye and said she'd fallen off the roof of their home fixing a leak.

Charging papers give this account:

Nala was unconscious and showed signs of abuse when paramedics took her to the hospital Oct. 6.

Her parents seemed "nervous and antsy" and claimed the girl regularly fell out of her crib, something Gantt said his daughter had already done seven times that week.

He said Nala was in her crib in the living room when they heard her scream. His wife allegedly reached the girl first and picked her, but the girl went limp.

Gantt said he performed CPR while his wife called 911.

Officers noted Gantt refused to let his wife speak to police, insisted he wanted a lawyer even though he wasn't yet under suspicion and became angry when officers said they'd need to interview him and his wife separately.

After Gantt and his wife were placed in different patrol cars, he allegedly called her on her cell phone and demanded that she ignore officers' questions.

At the hospital, Nala was placed on life support.

Doctors found she suffered from two fractured ribs, bruises on her legs, arms, back, stomach, head and face, hemorrhaging in both eyes and an extreme skull fracture that stretched 3 ⅕ inches across the back of her head.

Five other fractures were in the process of healing.

A medical examiner noted "the extreme force used to create the fracture," records show.

Doctors said Nala's injuries could not have happened from falling out of a crib.

When police told Gantt they would not provide information about his daughter's condition because he was now a suspect, he "ranted for some time and was difficult to understand," records show.

Nala died Oct. 9.

When notified of his daughter's death, Gantt allegedly said, "This happens to people all the time. We can get through this. We could go to counseling and get through this."

Gantt was arrested Friday.

Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653

Cox Media Group

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