Report says mother suspected abuse months before Las Vegas girl’s death

Ma’Liyah Collins (GoFundMe)

Brandon Smith, the man arrested in connection with the murder of 3-year-old Ma'Liyah Collins. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police)

A 3-year-old Las Vegas girl may have been kicked to death by her mother’s boyfriend, according to an arrest report, which indicates the mother had suspected physical abuse months earlier.

Brandon Smith, 28, was arrested Sept. 1 on a first-degree murder charge in the December killing of Ma’Liyah Collins.

Police said Smith was the live-in boyfriend of the child’s mother, who identified herself as Da Tonya Wade on a GoFundMe page. The mother’s name was removed from a copy of the arrest report that the Las Vegas Review-Journal obtained from Las Vegas Justice Court.

“He kicked her,” the mother told a Child Protective Services worker when asked what she thought happened, according to the report.

The mother also said she noticed a hole in the bathroom’s drywall that was not there previously.

“Being kicked could be consistent with the blunt force trauma that caused the child’s injuries,” the medical examiner told investigators.

On the morning of Dec. 23, the mother walked her young daughters to their grandmother’s house with Smith. The grandmother watched Ma’Liyah and her older sister while the mother and her boyfriend went out to turn in job applications, according to the arrest report. The couple were in the process of transitioning from California to Las Vegas.

Smith picked up the two girls about 6 p.m. and walked them back to Siegel Suites, where they were staying. Video footage from the area shows Smith alone with the girls, according to police.

He soon told the mother to return to the apartment because Ma’Liyah was vomiting. The mother later told police that Ma’Liyah was known to have frequent vomiting.

The mother returned home about 7:15 p.m. to find Ma’Liyah “laying on her makeshift bed just tossing around and her eyes did not seem right,” according to the arrest report.

Relatives who spent the day with the children said Ma’Liyah was “fine all day,” according to the report. A smiling photo of Ma’Liyah, taken earlier that day, showed no sign of injury.

When the mother returned to their apartment, she did not notice anything associated with vomit cleanup and grew suspicious of Smith, questioning him about Ma’Liyah’s behavior. He attributed it to her “normal vomiting,” according to the arrest report.

Concerned, the mother called police, and Ma’Liyah was taken to University Medical Center, where she died of blunt force trauma to her abdomen. The attending physician noticed bruises developing on Ma’Liyah’s right eye and right ribs that would not be associated with medical intervention or resuscitation efforts.

This was not the first time Ma’Liyah had injuries to the right side of her face.

The couple’s phones were taken as a part of the investigation, and police discovered multiple text messages between Smith and the mother on the topic of child abuse.

According to the arrest report, the mother asked Smith if he hit or abused her children. A photo taken June 25 showed a visible bruise on Ma’Liyah’s right eye, eyebrow and cheek area, the report said.

Smith is left-handed, according to the mother, and police said Ma’Liyah’s injury would have been consistent with a slap from a left-handed person. Smith attributed Ma’Liyah’s injuries to a fall.

The mother admitted having many arguments with Smith about physically disciplining her children, according to the arrest report, which said she mainly used time-outs for punishment.

She described Ma’Liyah as “rambunctious” and mentioned behavioral disorders and a delay in speech development.

“She loved to be outdoors and she’d wave to everyone until she got a wave back or a hello,” Wade said of her daughter on GoFundMe, where $1,225 was raised for a funeral fund.

According to the GoFundMe page, “Ma’Liyah left behind her 2 sisters.” Wade could not be reached for comment.

Smith is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing Oct. 6.

Contact Lawren Linehan at llinehan@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0381. Follow @lawrenlinehan on Twitter.