2-year-old girl beaten to death in Parkland apartment has been identified
A 2-year-old Parkland girl beaten to death by her parents within months of being returned by Child Protective Services has been identified.
Sarai Brooks, of Tacoma, died March 11 of blunt head trauma, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The little girl had bruising on her head and behind her ears, abrasions on her cheek, and lacerations inside her mouth and on her lower lip. Bruises were found on her face, arms, thigh, hands, buttocks and feet, records say.
She also had a possible hemorrhage on her spinal cord and the ““injuries observed on the victim were indicative of abuse,” according to court documents.
Pierce County prosecutors have charged the mother, 21-year-old Jharmaine Baker, and the father, 29-year-old Agustino Maile, with second-degree murder in the girl’s death. Maile also is charged with homicide by abuse and a second count of second-degree murder.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
Sarai and her two brothers were taken by CPS in April 2021 after they were found to have “significant injuries” and Baker was suspected of physically abusing her children, records say.
Baker told officials it was Maile who hurt the kids and that she did not intervene because she feared he would beat her as well.
A protection order issued last year was supposed to bar Maile from being close to the couple’s children, who were returned to Baker in late December.
Sarai was found dead on the floor of a hallway March 11 when a social worker stopped by to check in on the family.
Baker and Maile said they considered taking the toddler to the hospital the night before when she appeared to not be feeling well but opted not to “because they were afraid that the doctor would see the injuries on (the victim’s) arms, and they didn’t want further ‘allegations,’” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Detectives found bloody paper towels in the family’s apartment and bedding with stains from blood, urine and fecal matter. Police said it appeared all the bedding had been stripped before their arrival and hid in a closet.
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 10:50 AM.
