KIRKLAND, Wash. — On Wednesday, a Kirkland man was arrested in New Hampshire for allegedly abusing a 7-year-old girl to death in Kirkland in April.
Demiko A. Fox, 22, is being charged with Second-Degree Murder in the death of 7-year-old Mi’Laziah Raelynn Thill-Jackson, who he reportedly had custody of.
The arrest was made with other agencies, such as the New Hampshire jurisdictions Bow Police Department, the New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force, and the US Marshal’s Service.
On April 1st, court documents reveal that Fox got custody of the young girl.
“He was tasked with being her caregiver by the child’s mother so there’s no biological connection that we have discovered or that we can confirm. We do know that the mom and he referred to himself as the little girl’s ‘uncle,’ so the mom was calling him brother,” said Officer Tiffany Trombley with the Kirkland Police Department.
Just 10 days later, investigators say Fox brought Mi’Laziah to Evergreen hospital with signs of abuse.
“[He] brought her to the hospital when she was unconscious and no pulse,” said Trombley.
Court documents reveal that Fox, and his girlfriend were living at the Sorrel Apartments with the 7-year-old girl.
Fox reportedly told police that Mi’Laziah “collapsed doing squats in the apartment.”
He went on to explained that he’d discipline her with “physical exercises or they do timeouts in her room to help calm her down.”
Police say Mi’Laziah was transferred to Harborview Medical Center, where she died of her injuries a week later.
“We never know what’s going on around us and I would never imagine that a neighbor would be an abuser, right. Especially since I have a son, I’m extremely worried,” said neighbor Maira.
Maira remembers the night when police came to Fox’s apartment.
“There were a lot of police. I remember that they closed the entire front with that yellow tape and several people came in,” Maira added.
The King County Medical Examiner ruled Mi’Laziah died of an acute traumatic brain injury on April 18th.
He is set to be arraigned Thursday morning in New Hampshire, before being extradited to King County where he faces a Second-Degree Murder charge.
Fox also has a pending felony in Snohomish County where he was charged with Second-Degree Assault for allegedly punching his girlfriend.
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