SO MUCH SADNESS
Little girl, 3, dies after she’s beaten so badly she needed part of her brain removed
A TODDLER who was so badly beaten she had to have part of her brain removed has died.
Arabella Parker, who was on life support for nearly six weeks, passed away on Friday afternoon at a Pennsylvania hospital, the reported.
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Her family were given hope on Wednesday afternoon when the critically injured three-year-old opened her eyes and started breathing on her own for nearly 36 hours.
But tragically, she took a turn for the worst last night and died today.
Her aunt Mandy Kegler said."I held Arabella before she passed away," she said, adding that she is "heartbroken and sad" over her niece's death.
Amanda Parker, Arabella's sister, said she was at a loss for words to express her grief.
"My whole body is just weighed with so much sadness," the 20-year-old said.
"There are really no words to even express how I am feeling right now."
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Little Arabella was rushed to Geisinger Medical Center on October 10 after she was brutally beaten by her mother's 19-year-old boyfriend Jahrid Burgess, police said.
She suffered broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and brain damage so severe that she needed part of her brain removed.
Authorities said Arabella's mother, Samantha Delcamp, 23, did nothing to stop the abuse even though she was aware of it.
Her aunt was granted court-appointed custody earlier this month. She said doctors were able to put her at ease before her final moments.
A community pastor visited the toddler early Wednesday morning and told the that he held her hand and played music just after the doctors disconnected her ventilator.
More than 100 people gathered to pray for the ailing child at a candlelight vigil hosted about 14 miles from the hospital that same evening.
But Arabella's health took a turn for the worse overnight, family members said, and the tiny tot struggled to breathe before she died at around 1:20pm Friday.
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Burgess has been charged with aggravated assault, strangulation, and related offenses.
A district attorney in Northumberland County said previously that he would file homicide charges against him if Arabella died.
Delcamp was charged with felony endangering the welfare of children.
They are both behind bars in Northumberland County Jail, where they are being held on $500,000 bail and $200,000 bail, respectively.
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