Columbus police: Parents charged in baby’s death
Columbus police: Parents charged in baby’s death
Published: February 3, 2012
LEDGER-ENQUIRER
Twenty-month-old taken to hospital Sunday with severe head injuries
By ALAN RIQUELMY and TIM CHITWOOD — ariquelmy@ledger-enquirer.com, tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com
Columbus police have charged Jennifer Long with murder and Timothy Long with second-degree cruelty to children in the death of 20-month-old Alexis Long, who died Tuesday in Atlanta.
Police arrested Jennifer Long, 35, and husband Timothy Long, 46, about 2:30 p.m. Thursday while serving warrants at 1807 43rd St.
The Longs had been married for 14 years and had recently adopted Alexis, according to information on her Facebook page.
"We have a daughter named Alexis Nichole that we adopted and I thank the Lord everyday for her," Jennifer Long wrote on Facebook.
Timothy and Jennifer Long had a number of photos of Alexis posted on their Facebook pages at the time of their arrests.
"Thanks be unto God for blessing us to adopt Alexis!" Tim posted on his Facebook page Nov. 3. "I give God all the glory and praise for this wonderful blessing, and I thank all who prayed for us and supported us. God is indeed good."
The child had injuries to the back of her head when an ambulance brought her at 3:30 p.m. Sunday to The Medical Center emergency room, police said. The staff there had the baby transferred to Atlanta's Egleston Children's Hospital, where she died at 8:52 a.m. Tuesday, according to Muscogee County Coroner Bill Thrower.
"When the attending doctors spoke to the parents of the child, their version of what had happened to the child was not consistent with the injury," detectives said Thursday. Lt. Lynn Joiner said of the hospital staff: "The way it was explained to them, they couldn't understand it. So they called the police department in case it's a neglect or a cruelty case."
Results of an autopsy led authorities to rule the death a homicide.
A man who answered the phone at the Longs' home Thursday declined to speak before hanging up.
Timothy Long works for the city of Columbus as an electrical inspector and graduated from Jordan High and Columbus Technical College, according to his Facebook page. Jennifer Long graduated from Griffin High School, but listed no occupation on her Facebook page.
Their Recorder's Court hearing will be 9 a.m. Saturday.