A former footballer accused of murdering a 5-year-old girl

LAS VEGAS – A judge in Las Vegas expressed dismay on Tuesday over the seriousness of the injuries to a five-year-old girl whose death led to the murder and sexual abuse charges against her 25-year-old mother. and his former boyfriend professional football player.

"Once you've seen them, you can never ignore them again," justice of the peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson said about the images as she rejected the mother's offer of La & # 39; Raya Davis, Amy Taylor, to be released on bail a preliminary hearing on May 21 evidence or indictment in the case. The photos have not been made public.

Taylor sobbed as she and the former NFL and Canadian Football League defenseman Cierre Wood, 28, found themselves chained in court.

"She's innocent until proven otherwise," said Sarah Hawkins, the public defender appointed by Taylor's court.

Wood spoke only to say that he understood the charges. His lawyer, Thomas Ericsson, stated that Wood was maintaining his innocence and that Ericsson could file a written application for bail.

Attorney Michelle Jobe said that a grand jury was to hear evidence of the death of The Rayah, which occurred on April 9, and quoted Taylor's statement to the police that she had sitting on the girl while punishing her about a week before her death.

Jobe stated that "Rayah died from internal lung and diaphragmatic lesions. The judge noted what she called "lesions consistent with extreme abuse", including a lacerated liver, broken ribs and "severe injuries of the child's forehead mid-course". thighs."

Paramedics said they found the girl insensitive to Wood's apartment, where Taylor, a certified nurse's aide, had moved in after Taylor and Wood had started dating late last year. . The death of The Rayah was pronounced at the Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.

The Clark County Coroner ruled that she had died from multiple injuries and that she was a homicide.

Taylor told the detectives that Wood and she were the only two people who could have killed the child, "so it had to be one of us," according to a police report.

Wood told investigators that he had spanked the girl once when she had misbehaved, but Taylor disapproved and therefore adopted exercise as a discipline. He called it "learning by having fun".

Wood played soccer for Notre Dame before joining Houston, New England and Buffalo in the NFL and the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.

He told the investigators that he had asked La & Rayah to do sit-ups and other exercises, including running sprints in their apartment, and that the day of his death, La & # 39; Rayah had fallen back by doing sit-ups and had hit her head on the carpet.

Taylor told the police that she was in a grocery store at that time.