A baby's death was ruled a homicide. One year later, a soldier is still under investigation.
An autopsy from the State Medical Examiner's Office ruled eight-month-old Misty Lue Delatorre's death a homicide. Nearly one year later, no one has been charged, yet a soldier is under investigation.
Posted — Updated"It's disgusting," grandmother Misty Bray said, through tears. "She was eight months old. How could you hurt a baby like that? She was beautiful. Green eyes. Beautiful little baby. And i just kept thinking why...I want to know why."
“Her father stated that she had not been feeling well, and she had vomited,” it explains. He “slapp[ed] her on the back to clear her airway.”
The autopsy clearly disputes that narrative, noting the nature of the injuries are "highly associated with abusive head trauma in infants"...and would be hard to explain by anything else.
It details damage to her eyes, spine, head and neck, listing the cause of death as "blunt force injuries", and the manner of death as "homicide."
"My granddaughter has no one to defend her," Bray said. "And I have to, my daughter has to. We have to stand up. My family has to stand up. Because nothing is happening."
"He had her for three days," Bray said. "That's it... The judge was so concerned about the benefits that the military offered that she wasn't concerned about anything else."
According to the medical examiner's report, the Department of Social Services opened an investigation after the baby's death, and removed the father from the Fort Liberty home "for safety concerns" of his 8-year-old stepchild and three-month-old biological child also living there.
The mother and grandmother say that bruising was noted after the girl had spent time with her father. He denies any involvement in that.
WRAL Investigates sent a number of questions to the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, which is handling the case. In response, a spokesperson spent an email reading:
“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is aware of and investigating this tragic death. No additional details can be released at this time.”
"They don't act like they need to answer to my daughter or anybody because it's a military thing," Bray said. "If it were not a military base, guarantee someone would have been arrested on the spot."
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