Margarita Torres sits on the couch of her York City home holding a cast of a small hand. She looks down at it, strokes it and begins to cry.
"I can't believe this is happening to me," she said. "She was so beautiful, so happy. She was a happy baby."
The cast belongs to Torres' two-year-old granddaughter Darisabel Baez who died Monday night after being beaten to death. They made the cast the day she died.
26-year-old Harve Johnson - the boyfriend of Darisabel's mother - has been charged with homicide. According to court documents, Johnson beat the girl with a video game controller. The documents show that Darisabel's mother, 19-year-old Neida Baez, said she did nothing to stop him. The alleged abuse happened Sunday afternoon inside Baez's home on West Philadelphia Street in York City.
Torres said she can't believe that her daughter allowed the abuse to happen. She said Baez loved children and her daughter.
She said Baez began dating Johnson in November and shortly after that stopped letting Torres see Darisabel. Torres suspects that's when the abuse started.
"I knew something was not right," Torres said.
Torres was with Darisabel when she died at Hershey Medical Center after being taken off life support.
"I was praying for a miracle," Torres said. "I said 'God, give it to me.'"
The Dauphin County Coroner who performed the autopsy said it was difficult for him to find one part of Darisabel's body that didn't show sign of trauma.
Darisabel will be buried this Saturday at Mt. Rose Cemetery. Her biological father is expected to come from New York City for the funeral.
Johnson and Baez remain in York County Prison. Baez is being charged with child endangerment but could face more charges.
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