Nashville Babysitter Charged In 3-Year-Old's Murder

NASHVILLE, TN -- A mother, unable to find a babysitter, trusted a friend to watch her 3-year-old daughter. Instead, the 26-year-old man beat the girl to death, according to Metro Police.

Christopher J. Riley, 26, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Laylani Rose Stevens, who died Sunday at Monroe Carrel Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

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According to detectives, Laylani's mother asked Riley to watch the little girl while she worked Saturday afternoon and evening. When the mother returned home at 10 p.m. Saturday, she found her daughter unresponsive, police said, with Riley saying that the toddler had fallen.

Laylani's mother took her daughter to St. Thomas West and she was immediately transferred to Vanderbilt with "extensive head and other internal and external injuries," police said. The doctors say the severe trauma was "totally inconsistent" with the fall Riley claimed.

Riley was arrested after arriving with his attorney to meet with Youth Services Detectives Thursday.

Photo via Metro Nashville Police