Oakland Man Is Charged in Death of Niece, 2

A 23-year-old Oakland man who allegedly beat his 2-year-old niece to death when she wouldn’t stop crying was arraigned Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court.

Demetrius Walker was charged with homicide and causing the death of a child in connection with the death of Jamilah Brown, said Assistant Dist. Atty. Sandra Quist. He is due back in court Friday to enter a plea.

Alameda County Social Services Agency officials said social workers had been monitoring Jamilah’s family for at least six months, but had seen no signs that the little girl was in any danger.

“This is a family we were very much involved in,” said Carol Collins, assistant agency director and head of the Children and Family Services Department with the Social Services Agency. “There were no red flags or alerts from the community or the other professionals involved with the family that would have given us reason to be concerned about the children’s safety.”

In addition to Jamilah, five other children ranging in age from 7 weeks to 14 years were living with Walker and his wife, Laquanda Saunders-Walker, 32, in an apartment in east Oakland.

Jamilah died Friday afternoon after her uncle allegedly hit her several times and then “picked her up and squeezed her under the arms and chest area and dropped her on the floor,” said Oakland Police Sgt. Bruce Brock.

Walker, who was arrested on suspicion of murder Friday, “made admissions to the crime,” Brock said.

Saunders-Walker is the legal guardian of Jamilah and Jamilah’s 14-year-old brother, according to Social Services Agency officials. The other children, in addition to another of Jamilah’s brothers, 10, are either Saunders-Walker’s from a prior relationship or children from the aunt’s current marriage.

Shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, Jamilah was taken into a bedroom by Walker to take her afternoon nap with her 2-year-old cousin, Walker’s son.

“Both were fussing,” Brock said. “He kind of gave a little smack to his son -- a pop is how he describes it. He stopped crying. He then gave a pop to the girl. She started crying more.”

Brock said Walker continued trying to get the little girl to be quiet and “he said he hit her several more times.” Then he picked her up and dropped her on the floor, Brock said.

Later, when the family checked on Jamilah, she was unresponsive and family members called 911. She was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m. at Children’s Hospital in Oakland.

Sylvia Myles, spokeswoman for the Social Services Agency, said social workers had been visiting the family monthly.

“There were a lot of eyes on this family and nothing to indicate this tragedy was going to happen,” Myles said.

Myles said the two youngest children had been removed from the home by Social Services the same night Jamilah died. On Monday, the remaining three children were turned over to the agency, she said.

Meanwhile, Board of Supervisors President Gail Steele, who sits on the board’s Social Services Committee, said she planned to propose Tuesday that the county begin a campaign urging parents or caregivers “to get out of the house, get out of the car, just go” if they feel themselves losing their tempers.

She said nine young children in the Bay Area have died at the hands of their parents or caregivers in the past several months. In September, the agency was criticized after a 3-year-old, Chazarus Hill Jr., was allegedly beaten to death by his father for failing to correctly recite his numbers and ABC’s.

“Are these people unusually stressed?” Steele asked. “What is amazing to see is so much personal family violence to little children.”