Pittsburgh woman accused of beating her granddaughter, 3, to death

A Pittsburgh woman has been arrested after city police say she beat her 3-year-old granddaughter to death and then left her in her bed for several days before alerting authorities.

Denise Johnson, 56, of the North Side, was charged with homicide, aggravated assault, child endangering, corruption of a minor and abuse of a corpse, according to court records.

Police were called by first responders to the 200 block of East Ohio Street shortly after 11:30 a.m. Sunday, for a report of a suspicious death, public safety officials said.

Investigators said they were told by first responders that the toddler, Ayla Miller, was cold to the touch when they arrived and had an injury to the right side of her neck, bruising on her face and a scratch on her sternum, according to a sworn affidavit.

Police also found blood in Ayla’s bed and said her injuries were not consistent with typical, everyday accidents, according to a criminal complaint.

They also included a cigarette burn on Ayla’s ankle and an infected wound. Police also noted part of a bedroom door was broken, and there were several noticeable holes in walls throughout the apartment, the complaint said.

Ayla’s mother, whose name was not included in the criminal complaint, told police the child had no pre-existing health conditions and that she had seen her daughter a week ago bearing no signs of physical trauma. Ayla had been staying with Johnson for about a month-and-a-half, according to her mother.

A juvenile witness told police they’d seen Johnson beating Ayla with a large wooden stick along with several other implements. At one point, the juvenile said, Johnson demanded they go and get a belt so she could continue assaulting the toddler. Detectives gathered evidence consistent with the juvenile’s account, according to the complaint.

Johnson’s sister also told investigators she had spoken with Johnson on Sept. 1. Johnson said she’d punched Ayla in the face, and the toddler then fell backward and struck her head “really hard” on a coffee table, according to court documents.

Johnson admitted to police that she had beaten Ayla, the complaint said. She told them she then left the toddler alone in the bathtub, and came back into the room to find her underwater but still breathing. Johnson said she dried Ayla off and laid her in her bed, then became scared when she did not wake up for two days, but did not know what to do or who to tell, police said.

Johnson was denied bail and taken to the Allegheny County Jail. A Sept. 13 preliminary hearing is scheduled in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.

An attorney for Johnson was not listed in court records.