Alexandra Ward and Jordan Taylor have been charged with “complicity” in the death of her 3-year-old daughter. Taylor faces murder and other charges. (Images: Whitley County Detention Center)
A Kentucky woman and her boyfriend have been charged with the murder of her 3-year-old daughter.
The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department announced Monday that state police have arrested 20-year-old Alexandra Dotson Ward. She has been charged with Jordan Blake Taylor, 22, for accessory to murder and accessory to strangulation, authorities said.
Taylor is also charged with first degree murder, strangulation and sodomy of a victim under the age of 12.
Local outlets reportedly identified the child as Amoura Smallwood.
Ward had a legal duty to save his daughter from being strangled on February 17 and murdered two days later, documents show, authorities said.
Records show Taylor was incarcerated at the Whitley County Detention Center on February 20.
Whitley County deputies notified state police Feb. 19 of the child’s death, according to documents obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The mother’s boyfriend, Jordan Taylor, was charged first. However, the prosecutor said Alexandra Ward, 20, was also to blame. https://t.co/ob6y77lTdS
—Victor Puente (@thevictorpuente) April 18, 2023
Taylor reportedly claimed he was the only person watching the child until the ambulance arrived. The lead detective determined that the child’s injuries did not match his statement. The child had wounds from head to toe and on all sides of the body, authorities said.
Taylor invoked the Fifth Amendment after starting a non-custodial interview and he refused to take a blood test.
Authorities managed to obtain his blood through a search warrant. But the documents did not show the results of his tests.
Ward made no effort to protect her daughter, Commonwealth lawyer Ronnie Bowling said, according to WKYT.
“In Kentucky, you have a positive legal obligation as a parent to protect your children and protect them from harm,” he said. “In addition to being a moral duty, it is a legal obligation. Parents who do not protect their children from suffering and consequences like this are responsible for the crime as if they had committed it themselves.
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