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A mother and boyfriend, charged in the death of an 11-year-old disabled Norfolk girl, appeared in court Thursday to have their charges amended.

Heaven Watkins was found dead inside the family's apartment on May 18, 2018.

Her mother, 33-year-old Latoya Smith was charged with second degree murder and child abuse. 43-year-old Demont Harris, Smith's boyfriend, was charged with murder and aggravated malicious wounding.

News 3 has extensively followed the case. We learned Heaven has autism and cerebral palsy, but family said she was outgoing and outspoken, and she functioned as a normal child aside from a deformity in her hand.

After looking into the incident from February 26, the court presented evidence showing Harris put Heaven's hand under hot water until it burned her skin. The child was hospitalized here in Norfolk for six days and had to get a skin graft. For that incident the couple was recently also charged.

Tracey Vaughan, Harris' sister said she had made a child abuse allegation to police back in February, when Heaven was taken to CHKD with a serious burn to her hand. Vaughn said the family was living with her at the time and she is one who brought Heaven to the ER.

The medical examiner ruled the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and torso and said the manner of death was homicide.

The medical examiner's reports showed a head injury and brain bleeding, as well as abdominal injuries. The reports seem to suggest the child was hit so hard in the abdomen, that her abdomen split open a few days before she was found dead.

The medical examiner also reported 12 to 13 old rib fractures, as well as two to three new fractures that were sustained a few days before Heaven was found dead.

Smith allegedly admitted to “punishing “Heaven because she brought a toy into the bathtub. She also admitted to only feeding her bread and water a few days before she was found dead.
https://wtkr.com/2018/09/20/charges...charged-in-fatal-ocean-view-child-abuse-case/
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@Satanica
Court filings reveal brutal new details of how a Norfolk mother abused her daughter before the 11-year-old died.

According to the Stipulation of Facts in her case, Latoya Smith told police: "We were abusing Heaven, putting our hands-on Heaven, and I was feeding her bread."

She said: "I did punch her too, and just being very abusive to my daughter."

Until now, court testimony alleged Smith's boyfriend, Demont Harris, beat Heaven and Smith did nothing to stop it. Now, the court documents show Smith confessed to abusing the little girl, as well.

It continued through the final hours of Heaven's life. The night before her death Smith “smacked her one time across her face,” the filing reads. Smith also told detectives "she saw her boyfriend punch Heaven three to four times in the back with a closed fist," and "Heaven cried while being struck."

That abuse didn't only happen as part of Heaven's death, it plagued her life.

Smith told police, "she'd observe Harris strike Heaven three to four times per week,” and "Heaven had scars on her back from Harris hitting her with a shoe."

The behaviors Smith lists as the reasons for the abuse are typical childhood occurrences.

According to the filing, "Smith admitted to striking Heaven the night before her death because 'she had a toy.'" That same night Harris punched Heaven "for messing up her diaper." For days before that, Heaven “was being fed only bread and water” "because she was acting up."

The system knew there were risks for this child. Child Protective Services investigated the family back in Minnesota. Records show workers were so concerned they removed the little girl and her siblings from Smith's home.

In Virginia, CPS got involved again when Heaven was burned, but this time left her in Smith's care. That was just three months before Heaven would be brutally beaten to death at just 11-years-old.

Still no updates on sentencing.
 
Heaven Watkins is getting justice.

On October 30, Demont Harris pleaded guilty to Felony Homicide and two counts of Child Abuse/Neglect in the May 2018 death of 11-year-old Heaven Watkins.

Harris was dating Latoya Monique Smith, Heaven's mother, when the child was killed. Smith pleaded guilty on October 17, 2018 to Felony Homicide and one count of Child Abuse/Neglect in the death of her daughter.
One of the abuse charges stems from an injury Heaven got fom one punishment in February 2018 that left her hand burned so badly she needed skin grafts. Smith said Harris came up with a lie about the injury.

"Everybody had to say that Heaven was washing her hands in hot water, and the water got too hot, and she burned her hand,” she described.

When police asked Smith why she didn't stop Demont Harris or “do something about what he had been doing” to her own daughter, she only responded, "I don't know."

She told police beating her daughter and forcing her to stand in a corner for hours was the couple's form of punishment for Heaven.

Police asked Smith to take them back to the night before Heaven died. She said

Harris was sentenced to 60 years in prison with 35 years suspended, leaving him only 25 years left to serve.

Heaven's death prompted a push for nationwide legislation, bringing about some good.

Virginia passed a statewide law that requires CPS workers to check other states' registries for complaints of abuse or neglect going back five years.

Mom was found guilty and will be sentenced sometime this month.
 
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A woman will spend 30 years in prison for her role in her 11-year-old daughter's death. A judge handed down the sentence Friday morning.

On May 18, 2018, Heaven Watkins was found with serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Latoya Smith, along with her boyfriend Demont Harris, were charged in Heaven Watkins’ death.

Smith previously pleaded guilty to felony child abuse and felony homicide. She was sentenced to 50 years total in prison, but the judge suspended 20 years.

During the sentencing, Smith was emotional, crying loudly at times. She addressed the judge, saying she thinks about Heaven day and night, and wishes she could get her back.

The prosecutor said Heaven’s two siblings are in the process of being adopted by their foster parents.

Smith told the judge she wishes she could have done more that May night instead of going to sleep.
 
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yea she thinks about Heaven day and night and wishes she could get her back because now she is, i hope, the punching bag and she doesn't have Heaven anymore to use as her own punching bag . i wish i could type the names i want to call her and all of her kind but my upbringing stops me from doing so but not of thinking it though.
 
@runninfawn

I really do hope bald headed bitch is someone's punching bag but she will get more protection in prison than Heaven ever got in life.
yea and i hope it is in solitary so all she can punch is the walls when frustrated and i hope she gets frustrated a lot so she mangles both her hands and then have to use her head against the wall and mangle that also. but like all cowards, i think, she will be crying it is against her rights they are breaking her human rights by being confined and of course let out early so she can do it again :( grrrrrrrrrrrrr law makers and bleeding hearts ....... no wonder there are so many child abuse etc because the punishment for such acts are a biggg joke.
 
How could they!! Little Heaven deserved so much more! So innocent, I would have taken her in and loved her ! For them to beat her like that breaks my heart! To take her smile away! The males name is demont ? No he’s just a demon! Such a precious gift and they treated her with such brutality. I truly hope they have a miserable stay in prison!
 
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