Beaten toddler in coma; mother's boyfriend to be charged

Renton police say the 30-year-old man lashed the 2-year-old girl with belts and electrical cords because she wouldn't use the toilet, sprayed cold water on her, and when she fell to the floor face-first, he prohibited several of his female friends from helping her.

The man told the women the toddler, who was not his biological child, was playing "mind games with him," according to Renton police, and he was going to "beat her father out of her."

For months, according to a Renton police report, the 2-year-old, identified only as "P.T.," was subjected to repeated abuse that was witnessed or suspected by about a half-dozen people.

Police and Child Protective Services (CPS) had repeated contacts with the family, yet the little girl now lies comatose at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center and doctors say she is unlikely to recover.

The boyfriend of P.T.'s mother — a felon named Idris Turner — is expected to be charged today with first-degree child abuse, according to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.

The girl and her mother, Trina Washington-Eastland, came to authorities' attention in April. At that point, Washington-Eastland, whose family has a history of drug use, according to Renton police, was homeless and pregnant with Turner's child, a girl that was born Nov. 19.

Because of the instability in her life, Washington-Eastland often left P.T. in the care of someone she trusted — a woman who once was Washington-Eastland's own foster mother, Afua-Alicia Ndiaye.

Ndiaye was concerned, according to Renton police, about bruises and welts, and she took the child to a specialist to be examined in April.

According to CPS spokesman Thomas Shapley, there was "no specific medical finding of sexual abuse," but CPS opened an investigation for fear the girl was being neglected by her troubled mother.

By that point, however, it seemed P.T. was safely in the care of Ndiaye, Shapley said.

In July, however, CPS again opened an investigation when Washington-Eastland was hospitalized for an unspecified condition.

According to Renton police report, Turner exploded and began screaming at the child and beating her while visiting Washington-Eastland in the hospital. Shapley said Turner continued "spanking" the girl even after a nurse demanded he stop, adding there were no visible bruises.

This time, the incident was forwarded to Seattle police, who declined to open an investigation, Shapley said. Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said that the department does not generally investigate spankings absent a report of criminal conduct and that the spanking was referred back to CPS.

By August, CPS persuaded Washington-Eastland to sign an agreement saying she would not leave P.T. in Turner's care and, instead, she would leave the girl with Ndiaye, the former foster mother.

"The assumption on the social worker's part was we've got this former foster mother, she's agreed to take the child, so we've got a safe environment," Shapley said.

But Washington-Eastland took her back and, after experiencing pregnancy complications that required bed rest, left the girl in Turner's care, said Penny Bartley, Renton police spokeswoman. During this period, Turner apparently stayed with a number of girlfriends, police said.

One of them, Joy Brannon, told investigators she saw Turner beat P.T. more than 30 times using a belt or an electrical cord. When the toddler didn't immediately cry, he'd hit her harder. When Brannon tried to intervene, she told police, Turner beat her, too, chasing her around the house with a glass "ice holder" and threatening to kill himself if he were faced with prison.

On Nov. 21, Brannon called Seattle police to report Turner had punched her in the face and broke her jaw. She also told police about the child abuse, but Turner and the little girl were gone by the time police arrived, Whitcomb said. Another girlfriend, Courtney Douglas, said she saw Turner striking P.T. "like you'd beat a slave," but she did not call police, Renton police said. She, too, said she was afraid of him.

Turner was convicted in 2006 of domestic violence for an assault against another woman. The victim told police "that she truly believed Turner would either kill or hurt her," that he had "mental issues" and that she did not know what he is "capable of doing," according to King County Superior Court documents filed in 2006.

On Thanksgiving of this year, a friend of Brannon's and Douglas' said she had heard Turner lecturing P.T. about "playing mind games" with him, and watching as Turner forced her to stand, rather than sit, at the table, Renton police said. She said he described the child as "lazy."

That weekend, the girl had a seizure and the women demanded he take her to a doctor. He resisted, he told police, because he didn't want the girl's mother to know about his romantic entanglements with the other women.

According to Bartley, of the Renton police, P.T. was brought to Valley Medical Center on Saturday afternoon with injuries consistent with child abuse. When questioned by police, Turner claimed the child was abused by someone he'd left her with while he was "taking care of business."

Bartley said when police began to question others, witnesses came forward who said, "That's not true. He beats this little girl."

Turner was taken into custody Sunday at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where police say he, Washington-Eastland and the couple's newborn were apparently trying to catch a plane to Pennsylvania.

He is being held without bail in the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent on investigation of child abuse and on two probation violations.

The newborn, who showed no sign of abuse, was taken into protective custody Monday morning.

Bartley said police do not expect to arrest the mother or any of the other women involved with Turner.

"It's a horrific case," she said.

Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562 or mohagan@seattletimes.com

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times researchers Gene Balk and David Turim contributed to this report.