Dad charged with 1st-degree murder of infant daughter who was only 96 days old; baby died of blunt-force trauma to the head (Memphis, Tennessee)

Dad JULIUS FULLER has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his infant daughter, who was only 96 days old. The baby died from blunt-force trauma to the head. Dad has a history of criminal activity including domestic violence, and has had two orders of protection filed against him in the past. Unfortunately, the poor mother had been relying on Dad for babysitting so she could work.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/aug/20/honoring-jalissa/

Mother, family remember baby girl whose life was cut short by violence
By Jody Callahan (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Thursday, August 20, 2009
From birth to death was just 96 days.
That's all the life Jalissa Fuller got.

Born May 14, 2008, Jalissa was murdered Aug. 18, beaten to death. Her father, Julius Fuller, is in jail, charged with first-degree murder in her death.

Tuesday night, her mother, Tamika Abrum, joined aunts, uncles and cousins in the living room of a small house on Faxon to remember Jalissa.

Three photos of a smiling baby decorated a cardboard table in the living room. Two black balloons floated overhead as family members dimmed the lights, then lit candles to honor Jalissa.

"I thank y'all so much for supporting me," Abrum, 29, told her family. "This has been a hard year."

Police and court records in this case tell a grim tale, one that's become all too familiar in Memphis. Jalissa's death was one of 14 recorded by the Child Advocacy Center last year. So far this year, the number stands at five.

Julius Fuller lived a rough life before Abrum ever met him. His record includes two arrests for aggravated robbery, one for theft and another for burglary. He was also arrested on domestic assault. He's had two orders of protection filed against him.

Abrum met Fuller just after he was released from one of those jail stints. A contentious, sometimes violent relationship began, lasting on and off for 10 years.

That day in Whitehaven, Abrums let Fuller watch Jalissa and their other daughter, Justice, while she went to her job as a dispatcher with Metro Cab.

Later that day, Fuller called Abrum, saying he'd struck Jalissa in the head with a box of baby wipes. He said she was fine, though, so Abrum didn't come home.

After Abrum got home, Fuller told her Jalissa, a fussy baby who was sickly, was asleep. Not wanting to wake her, Abrum started making dinner.

"If you woke her up, she'd cry for a while," Abrum said. "I was going to let her sleep."

After Fuller left, Abrum went to check on her daughter. She first noticed a black eye.

"I picked her up. I raised her arm up. It fell back down," Abrum said. "It still hadn't dawned on me that my baby was ice cold."

Abrum called 911, but Jalissa was dead. Police arrested Fuller the next day after his stories kept changing.

He first said that Justice beat Jalissa over the head with the baby wipes.

Then he said he was holding Jalissa when he tripped and fell.

The Shelby County Medical Examiner cast doubt on all those stories, saying Jalissa died from multiple blunt-force trauma to the head.

Abrum still doesn't know what happened to Jalissa: "I went to see him to get a satisfactory story and I got the same thing he told police."

Abrum also lost her five other children: four were taken into state custody and the other child is living with a godmother. Department of Children's Services officials declined to comment, citing confidentiality rules.

Abrum blames herself for her daughter's death. She blames herself for her decisions that day, for trusting Fuller, for ever meeting him in the first place.

"I blame myself because I didn't go get my cousin to take them to day care (that day). I blame myself because I didn't go up to check on her," she said. "I blame myself every day."