The parents of Julianna Curtis have been convicted of abusing their 2-year-old daughter, who
died in November, but the Clark County coroner’s office said this week it doesn’t know how the girl died.
The child’s cause and manner of death were both ruled “undetermined,” the coroner’s office said Wednesday. Las Vegas police suspect the girl, who died Nov. 9 after she was taken to the hospital two days before, was the victim of “repeated violent abuse.”
Her mother, Ebony McBride, 27, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of child abuse and was sentenced in March to 10 months for each count, to be served back-to-back, with credit for 136 days served, District Court records show.
Her father, Worthy Lee Curtis, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse, neglect or endangerment and was sentenced in February to a minimum of two years and four months, with a maximum of three years. He received credit for 105 days served in custody.
On Nov. 7, after a 911 call requesting medical help for a child in “physical distress” at an east Las Vegas apartment, Julianna arrived at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center with injuries consistent with abuse, including retinal hemorrhages, progressive brain swelling, bruises and lacerations. She had bruises all over her body and marks “consistent with an injury caused by being whipped with an object,” according to identical arrest reports for the parents.
Curtis’ guilty plea came with the stipulation that it did not include charges that could arise from “any ongoing investigation,” court documents show.
McBride’s plea stated it did not cover charges that could come from an ongoing investigation “into the death of (Julianna),” but that the plea could not be “used against” McBride in proceedings that could arise from “the ongoing investigation” into her daughter’s death.