16-month-old girl beaten on Father's Day dies

BROOKLYN, New York -- A 16-month-old Brooklyn girl who had been fighting for her life for nearly a week after police say she was beaten unconscious by her dad on Father's Day has died.

Hospital officials say Nylah Lewis passed away at 10:40 a.m. Friday.

"We at Maimonides Medical Center extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, who wish to have their privacy respected at this sad and difficult time," director of public relations and marketing Jodi Cross said in a statement.

Lewis' great grandmother spoke to Eyewitness News, sharing new details about the heartbreaking tragedy.

"She was a beautiful baby," Janice Munford said. "She didn't deserve this at all. She was like an angel."

She said the family that never saw this coming, describing little Nylah as a joyful girl whose father, Shaquan Taylor, is behind bars.

"This boy had to plan this, to hurt this little girl," Munford said. "Why would you hurt a little innocent baby like that?"

Police say the baby's mother, 17-year-old Tammy Lewis, picked her up from a visit with Taylor but then raced her out of his Coney Island apartment building because she was unresponsive.

Munford said two lives were actually in grave danger at that point.

"She went in that house and found her baby laying on that couch unconscious," Munford said. "Yes, he beat her. He gave her a black eye. Her eye was messed up. She had a cut over her eye."

Doctors said Nylah suffered a linear fracture to the skull and bruising to the face, nose, arms and legs, which they said could not have come from a fall, as her father initially claimed, but were intentionally inflicted. Tammy Lewis suffered a black eye and needed stitches, and while she will recover physically, the emotional pain for her and the family is unfathomable.

A tribute to Nylah hangs outside Maimonides Medical Center, where her family waited for five days hoping for some sign that her condition would improve, but to no avail.

"He's supposed to protect her, not beat her," Munford said. "He beat her to death."

Charges are expected to be upgraded against Taylor now that the child has passed away.

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