A Utah man has been charged with killing his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter last month.
Randy Holt Lessing, 29, of LaVerkin, was arrested and charged Tuesday in 5th District Court with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
According to a probable cause statement, 2-year-old Emmaline Marie Mitchell was “unconscious and unresponsive” when she was admitted to St. George Regional Hospital on July. 19. Doctors determined she had suffered “significant trauma to the brain and head.”
Lessing told police the girl fell and injured herself — that she “must have flung herself backward off of her toddler bed” while “throwing a tantrum” and hit her head on the floor. According to St. George police, in “subsequent interviews, [Lessing] confessed to lying about how the child received her injuries at his hands.”
The toddler was flown by helicopter to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where she died on July 24. According to the probable cause statement, “multiple doctors … that attended to Emmaline reported that Emmaline’s injuries were obviously consistent with child abuse.”
Both the child’s mother, ZzKora Fullmer, and Lessing told police that Lessing was the only one at home with the toddler when she was injured. Lessing is being held without bail in the Washington County jail.
“Emmaline brightened the lives of everyone who met her,” Fullmer wrote on Facebook. “She had a contagious smile and laugh that could turn any day into the best day.”
“Emmaline loved all animals,” the post continued, “especially her puppy Opal. Kitties and duckies were some of her favorite friends. Emmaline was always a happy little girl and rarely had a bad day.”
Lessing was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon, court records indicate.
