Step father beats 2-year-old baby to death

On Monday, relatives said goodbyes to 2-year-old Thaiya Princetta Spurill-Smith. She has on life support for nearly a week, but on Monday tragic toddler Thaiya Princetta Spurill-Smith was finally laid to rest.Family and friends of the 2-year-old girl — beaten into a coma by her stepdad, according to cops — lined up to take a last look at her angelic face inside a gleaming white coffin that was draped in white lace.


A photo was displayed nearby, showing a beaming Thaiya in happier times, wearing a bright yellow dress and flashing a peace sign.

Inside the Grace Funeral Chapels in East New York, about 100 family members lined the pews, their grief-stricken sobs breaking the stillness of the room.

Some onlookers plucked roses from the yellow and white flowers surrounding the girl — a token to remember her by. Balloons the color of bees were tied to her small casket, a nod toward the nickname “Honeybee” given to her by her dad. The family also released black and gold balloons into the air the moment Thaiya’s casket was loaded onto a waiting hearse. Janaya Foster performs a tribute in dance at funeral of Thaiya Princetta Spruill-Smith. Family release balloons at the funeral of Thaiya Princetta Spruill-Smith, the 2-year-old Brooklyn child who was shaken into a coma. Family members watch the balloons float up to the sky during the funeral of tragic tot Thaiya Princetta Spruill-Smith.

The girl’s distraught mother, Teoka Spruill, 24, was inconsolable throughout the sad ceremony. Thaiya was remembered as a daddy's girl, one who loved music and dancing.

“No more tears, no more neglect, no more beatings, no more court cases,” said the minister who presided over her funeral, a reference to the young girl’s tumultuous last days.

Thaiya spent nearly a week on life support before she was removed from the machines Nov. 19, after a bitter battle between her parents about donating her organs.
She died around 7 a.m. that morning.
The Brooklyn baby was savagely beaten and shaken Nov. 12 by her stepfather David Adams, according to authorities. The brute attacked the little girl when she wouldn’t stop crying, officials said. Adams, 25, was hit with an assault indictment after admitting to shaking and hitting the 2-year-old.

Prosecutors said charges will be upgraded to murder after the medical examiner officially rules on the cause of death.
An autopsy has not been completed, said an M.E. spokeswoman.
Thaiya was declared brain-dead two days after her attack but kept artificially alive because her parents — who had fought over custody almost since her birth — held different views on organ donation.

Her mother, who had custody, wanted to donate them. Father Terrell Smith, 26, refused and went to court. Smith’s wishes prevailed, and not long after the court ruling, Thaiya was taken off life support and allowed to slip away.