Male Babysitter Charged with Murdering 3-Year-Old

A Nashville man has been charged with murder in the case of a 3-year-old girl he was babysitting, WSMV reports.

Christopher J. Riley was arrested on Thursday and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Laylani Rose Stevens, who Riley was babysitting on Saturday.

Laylani’s mother told police that when she returned home at 10 p.m., she found her daughter unresponsive and immediately drove her to the hospital.

The toddler was then transferred to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital with extensive head and other internal and external injuries. She died on Sunday afternoon.

Police said Riley told Laylani’s mother that the child had fallen, but doctors found her injuries to be inconsistent with falling. Laylani’s mother said that her daughter had been uninjured before she left.

According to the investigation, the woman had reportedly asked Riley, a friend, to watch her daughter while she was at work on Saturday after she had been unable to arrange for another babysitter.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Photo Credit: Metro Nashville Police Department