Police in Michigan are searching for a mother and her boyfriend after the woman’s four-year-old daughter was found suffering from severe burns on New Year’s Day and later died from those injuries.
The child, identified by family members as Gabby Barrett, was discovered with scald wounds all over her body shortly before 11am on January 1 at her family’s mobile home on Greenmeadow Drive in Sumpter Township.
Police officers who responded to the scene found the toddler with ‘obvious’ burns on her arms and legs.
Wanted: Police in Michigan are searching for Candice Diaz, 24 (left), and her boyfriend, 28-year-old Brad Fields (right), in connection to the death of the woman’s daughter
Victim: Gabby Barrett, 4, passed away on January 1 after suffering from scald burns on much of her body
Police were called to this trailer home in Sumpter Township, Michigan, on New Year’s Day on receiving a report of an unresponsive child
According to investigators, the mobile home that housed Barrett, her mother and the woman’s boyfriend was littered with animal waste and contained guns and drugs.
Gabby was rushed to St Joseph Mercy Hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
Two days later, the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner ruled the child’s death a homicide with evidence of multiple traumatic injuries and signs of Battered Child Syndrome.
On Monday, arrest warrants were approved by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office charging Gabby’s mother, 24-year-old Candice Diaz, and her partner, 28-year-old Brad Fields, with second-degree murder, felony murder, first-degree child abuse and torture, reported WDIV.
The pair are believed to be traveling in a 2002 Chevy Cavalier with the Michigan license plate DTR1854.
It has been reported that the Michigan State Police and the state’s Child Protective Services agency are investigating.
Local police had some past experience with Candice Diaz: in May 2016, SWAT officers were called to the trailer home after the woman reported that her boyfriend had attacked her, shot her dog and then himself.
House of horrors: Police say the mobile home was covered in animal waste and contained guns and drugs
Gabby’s family members (grandparents pictured left) say Diaz had custody of the toddler (left and right) at the time of her death
Gabby is pictured with her biological father, Kyle, who is not connected to her death
The man was later arrested and charged with domestic violence.
Diaz eventually pleaded guilty to weapons charges and was sentenced to probation.
On Sunday night, some of Gabby’s family members, including her biological father and her grandparents, gathered in Sumpter Township for a candlelight vigil honoring the deceased four-year-old girl, reported Fox 2 Detroit.
According to the family, Gabby’s mother had custody of the girl at the time of her passing on New Year’s Day.
Her parental grandmother, Deborah Barrett, described Gabby as a ‘ball of joy’ who loved to play and run around the house, while her paternal grandfather, Jerry Barrett, said he misses the child very much.