PART 2
When Ashlea Collier arrived around 11:30 p.m., she found 2-year-old Zyda White unconscious and unresponsive.
Emergency responders rushed the toddler to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Hospital, but shortly after midnight, Zyda was pronounced dead.
Initially, authorities were told that Zyda had fallen from a bed. According to investigators, the 10-year-old who had been left to watch her claimed she gave the toddler some juice and put her back to sleep.
But an autopsy revealed a far different story.
The medical examiner determined that Zyda had suffered extensive blunt-force trauma to her head, torso, and buttocks. Her death was ruled a homicide.
The 10-year-old girl was arrested and charged with felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children. Because she was under the age of 13, Georgia law did not allow her to be tried as an adult.
Investigators also arrested Kiyosha Bell, the adult who had been entrusted with Zyda’s care. She was charged with child endangerment and cruelty to children for allegedly leaving the children home alone.
Today, Zyda would be a young woman.
Instead, she remains forever 2 years old—a little girl whose life ended far too soon and whose story continues to serve as a heartbreaking reminder of the importance of protecting vulnerable children.
