Dad ‘raped his baby and killed her, then chatted with girlfriends instead of calling for help’
Austin Stevens waited for an hour to seek help after sexually assaulting his daughter Zara Scruggs and killing her, prosecutors say
A dad raped his 10 month-old baby and killed her, then Googled symptoms and chatted with girlfriends instead of seeking help, investigators say. Zara Scruggs was fatally assaulted at her dad Austin Stevens’ apartment in Lower Providence Township, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.
After allegedly killing the infant, Stevens, 29, is said to have spent an hour Googling terms such as ‘If baby stop breathing,’ ‘What if you don’t hear baby heart or beat,’My baby isn’t breathing’ and ‘How do you know if a baby is dead’, before finally dialing 911.
Zara Scruggs was found unresponsive by police at her dad’s apartment, which did not have heating, electricity or running water. She was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead shortly afterwards.
A subsequent autopsy showed she had been sexually assaulted and suffered blunt force trauma to the head. The exact cause and manner of her death is still pending, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Prosecutor Kevin Steele said: ‘This case is deeply disturbing. It is hard to imagine this child’s death being any more traumatic: sexual assault on an infant, followed by inaction by the father to save her life, led to her death.’
Zara’s grandparents said she had gone to spend the night with Stevens when she was killed.
Her distraught grandfather Eric said: ‘This is shocking. He always respected me, and he always respected us. You would never think that anything like this would even happen in a million years. ‘
Paying tribute to the murdered youngster, her grandma added: ‘If you had a bad day, she made your day good, she’d just learned to walk.’
The grieving couple said that she had learned to walk at nine months, and was happily chatting to her loved ones by the time she was killed.
Stevens was arrested and charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, rape of a child, aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and other offenses.
He remains in Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to make $1million bond. Stevens is due to appear before a judge for a preliminary hearing on October 13.
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