An Arizona police detective and his wife have been charged in the ‘suspicious’ February death of his 7-year-old daughter, Sanaa (shown)
An ex-Arizona police detective and his wife have been charged in the ‘suspicious’ February death of the officer’s 7-year-old daughter.
A grand jury announced the first-degree murder indictments earlier this month for Phoenix Police Department veteran Germayne Cunningham and Sanaa’s stepmother, Lisa, who were accused of subjecting her to ‘forcible work’ and abuse in months prior her death, court documents revealed.
She died in February shortly after she was taken to an urgent care facility with severe bruises and scratches on her body, police records said.
It seems Sanaa had been taking medication after being diagnosed with ‘unspecified schizophrenia, opposition defiant disorder and autism spectrum’ in December 2016, a GoFundMe page created for her funeral costs said earlier this year.
Around the time, her father and stepmother allegedly forced her to wear a RIPP restraint to halt her physical movements and kept her locked in the garage or small areas inside their home.
The Goodyear Police Department said 38-year-old Germayne Cunningham and his 43-year-old wife, Lisa, (shown togther) were indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on one count of first-degree murder and 10 counts of child abuse
Germayne Cunningham worked for the Phoenix Police Department between 2005 and 2017 before he resigned in September
The couple faces 10 counts of child abuse for the alleged abuse.
The Cunningham couple, who spoke with The Arizona Republic, claimed the abuse stemmed from ‘a dispute with the state Department of Child Safety.’
The pair complained about the agency’s irrational and strict guidelines for their family.
They said the child was in state custody at the time she was living with them and the agency ‘insisted’ she be put on medication which put her quality of life in ‘decline.’
Sanaa’s biological mother, Sylvia Norwood, is shown during an interview. A complaint by Norwood led to a welfare check by the Goodyear Police Department, which proved nothing
Sanaa had been taking medication after being diagnosed lsat December with unspecified schizophrenia, opposition defiant disorder and autism spectrum
If they did not, the agency threatened they would be charged with medical neglect, according to the newspaper.
The medications to improve the child’s mental and physical help were not effective, they said.
The couple then threatened to sue DCS over what they alleged was abuse from the agency, the Cunninghams claim their four other children were removed from their home.
The department reportedly responded to ‘several abuse complaints’ against the couple.
The child’s father had been employed with the Phoenix Police Department (pictured) from 2005-2017 before his resignation in September
A complaint from Sanaa’s biological mother, Sylvia Norwood, also led to a welfare check by the Goodyear Police Department. The department found nothing.
Sanaa’s death still remains ‘suspicious’ after several months of investigation.
The child’s father had been employed with the Phoenix Police Department from 2005-2017 before his resignation in September.
‘In the span of two years, this vibrant, energetic child’s quality of life continued to decline mentally and physically,’ her GoFundMe page read, which raised $8,057 and has since been closed.
Sanaa’s GoFundMe page said her ‘quality of life continued to decline mentally and physically’ before her tragic death