NORFOLK, VA - A woman from Virginia pleaded guilty after her baby daughter died from burns and broken bones throughout her body that the new mom deemed "were not all that serious."
Z'ibreyea Parker, 24, entered a guilty plea to child abuse with serious injury for the death her nine-day-old daughter, I'ijayah Johnson, according to Law & Crime. The young girl's father, Hilary Johnson II, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this month.
A press release from the Norfolk Police Department (NPD) states that officers were called to the Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters around 1:15 p.m. on May 4, 2024, for a child abuse investigation.
Police later learned that the girl showed up unresponsive to the hospital "showing signs of abuse." Doctors then pronounced the girl dead.
Two days later, the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and Parker and Johnson were charged with second-degree murder and child abuse. As part of her plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Parker.
Arrest warrants obtained by WTKR revealed more details about the circumstances of the child's untimely death.
The warrants state that Parker told police that she and her husband, Johnson, brought the baby to the hospital after waking up and finding the child unresponsive.
The baby was "initially observed to have severe burns on both feet as well as splash burns on other areas of her body," police said.
The documents also stated that a subsequent autopsy revealed that the child had "several bruises on her head, broken ribs, a broken clavicle, and exhibited symptoms of shaken baby."
When asked about the burns on the child's feet, Parker told police she "did not think the injuries were all that serious" and had treated them with home remedies including Witch Hazel.
At the time of the incident, both parents were homeless living in a tent. It was unclear how long they had been living there or if they had been taking care of the baby there.
Johnson's father said he expressed concerns to the hospital about the fitness of his son and Parker to be able to take care of the little girl after she was born. "I said I feared for the girl's life," he said.
"What in the world else am I supposed to do? Now, I got to bury my granddaughter because nobody listened."
Johnson's father also said that the new parents struggled with their mental health. "They was bright kids that I don't know what in the world snapped into them to live the way they were living," he said.
"I prayed to myself before [I'ijayah] came here and I said, "Lord, please let her maternal instincts kick in that she wants to protect that baby, that she don't want to live the way she was living, that she wants more for her and her child.'"
Johnson and Parker are scheduled to be sentenced on October 24 and 31, respectively.
Z'ibreyea Parker, 24, entered a guilty plea to child abuse with serious injury for the death her nine-day-old daughter, I'ijayah Johnson, according to Law & Crime. The young girl's father, Hilary Johnson II, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this month.
A press release from the Norfolk Police Department (NPD) states that officers were called to the Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters around 1:15 p.m. on May 4, 2024, for a child abuse investigation.
Police later learned that the girl showed up unresponsive to the hospital "showing signs of abuse." Doctors then pronounced the girl dead.
Two days later, the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and Parker and Johnson were charged with second-degree murder and child abuse. As part of her plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Parker.
Arrest warrants obtained by WTKR revealed more details about the circumstances of the child's untimely death.
The warrants state that Parker told police that she and her husband, Johnson, brought the baby to the hospital after waking up and finding the child unresponsive.
The baby was "initially observed to have severe burns on both feet as well as splash burns on other areas of her body," police said.
The documents also stated that a subsequent autopsy revealed that the child had "several bruises on her head, broken ribs, a broken clavicle, and exhibited symptoms of shaken baby."
When asked about the burns on the child's feet, Parker told police she "did not think the injuries were all that serious" and had treated them with home remedies including Witch Hazel.
At the time of the incident, both parents were homeless living in a tent. It was unclear how long they had been living there or if they had been taking care of the baby there.
Johnson's father said he expressed concerns to the hospital about the fitness of his son and Parker to be able to take care of the little girl after she was born. "I said I feared for the girl's life," he said.
"What in the world else am I supposed to do? Now, I got to bury my granddaughter because nobody listened."
Johnson's father also said that the new parents struggled with their mental health. "They was bright kids that I don't know what in the world snapped into them to live the way they were living," he said.
"I prayed to myself before [I'ijayah] came here and I said, "Lord, please let her maternal instincts kick in that she wants to protect that baby, that she don't want to live the way she was living, that she wants more for her and her child.'"
Johnson and Parker are scheduled to be sentenced on October 24 and 31, respectively.
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Comments
2025-08-28T18:48-0400 | Comment by: natalie
This monster deserves life or death certainly not getting off on some lame plea deal. What is wrong with this system??