Volusia County mother charged with beating her 7-year-old daughter to death
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A Volusia County mother accused of killing her 7-year-old daughter two years ago is waiting to be extradition to Florida where the crime occurred.
Janee Dickson, 26, was arrested on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child in Charlotte Friday. According to investigators, the crime happened in March 2018 in DeLand.
Volusia County detectives began investigating two years ago when 7-year-old Kamia Jean-Baptiste was brought to an area hospital with visible trauma. She had to be airlifted to another facility for advanced treatment and indicated that her injuries were the result of abuse.
Kamia died a day after she was taken to the hospital, on March 7. An autopsy determined she died from hemorrhaging of soft tissue, which was likely a result of serious physical abuse. The cause of death listed in the autopsy report was blunt force trauma, and the manner of death was ruled homicide.
During interviews with detectives, Dickson first said Kamia got hurt on a slide at the playground. However, Dickson’s boyfriend, Brandon Williams, was also interviewed and told detectives that Dickson beat Kamia on several occasions.
As the investigation continued, Dickson changed her story, telling detectives that Kamia had been hit, but in a 'parenting' capacity, and that Williams was the one who hit her.
She said on March 5, while the three of them were in the car, Kamia kept asking to stop and use the bathroom. Dickson said Williams drove to a side street, pulled Kamia out of the car and beat her for 15 to 20 minutes with a blunt object. She then said he drove to another location and beat her again for 30 minutes with the same object and a second object.
Dickson and her boyfriend reportedly blamed each other for the beating. When deputies asked Dickson if she thought her daughter was dead before she brought her to the hospital, they say she replied, "basically, yea."
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Sheriff Mike Chitwood talked to FOX 35 News about what deputies say happened in the car.
"You're living in the back of a Kia and you get beat because you're hungry or you want to go to bathroom or you're cold in the car. So your response is you just beat her?"
Chitwood said on Facebook that "Janee Dickson is not a mother in any sense of the word."
Detectives say the investigation into the case will continue and additional charges are possible.
FOX 46 Charlotte contributed to this report.