A babysitter faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide after a 2-month-old baby was killed earlier this year while under her care.
Adonna Townsend was arrested Monday night by Grand Prairie police after Keene police filed an arrest warrant last week.
The family of Emma Nicole Cox-Jenkins plead for justice for her death, which happened in late May. The Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide last week.
The little girl was staying with a babysitter in Keene that weekend and it's unclear how she died, but that's just one of the questions haunting her family.
"Her bright blue eyes, her little smile, everything about her was perfect," said Kayla Cox, Emma Nicole's mother.
"Nobody should have to go through this," added her father Billy Jenkins.
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There is an empty space at the heart of their family.
"We love you baby girl," Sandra Jenkins said while cradling a roll of blankets where her granddaughter should be wrapped up safely.
"I hold this little blanket every night because it belonged to her and that's all I have left of her," said Ms. Jenkins.
"I remember bringing her home,” said Billy Jenkins. “It was one of the greatest days of my life but like that it was over, just as quick as it began."
Emma's mother, Kayla Cox, had gone out of town for the weekend and left the little girl with her roommate to babysit.
"I kissed her and I put her in the car and I told my son goodbye as well and I never got to see her again, not alive," Cox said.
She said she'll always regret leaving, knowing now what happened next. She got a call her daughter was being rushed to the hospital.
"And the next thing I knew they were telling me that she had passed away and there was nothing they could do," Cox said.
More than two months later, the medical examiner has ruled Emma's death a homicide but has not released a cause of death.
While they wait for answers, the family holds close what they have left.
"My daughter Emma is in here,” said Cox, holding up a pink heart-shaped box of ashes. “As you can see, it's got scratches and stuff all over it because we take her everywhere."
It’s cold comfort to replace the precious girl with the bright blue eyes gone far too soon.
