Dead girl's custodial dad wants his murder charges dismissed; gal pal got 27 years (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

The media messed up this headline and this story royally. The girl's "mom" didn't get 27 years. The mother lives in New Jersey and lost custody when she was not informed of the court dates. Dad HANIF SIMMS managed to get and retain custody despite ongoing child abuse investigations and a weapons warrant. Then he was allowed to move to Colorado where he was reported for still more child abuse, which was also more or less ignored. See our previous posts on this case.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30286642/detail.html

Dead Girl's Dad Wants His Charges Dismissed; Mom Got 27 Years
Body Of Genesis Sims Found In Basement Of Monument Home
Deb Stanley, 7NEWS Producer

POSTED: 8:51 am MST January 24, 2012
UPDATED: 9:52 am MST January 24, 2012

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Defense attorneys for a father accused of murder want the charges dropped, but a judge is refusing.

The body of Genesis Sims was found by contractors working on a home in Monument in 2010.

Her father, Hanif Sims, is charged with first-degree murder. His girlfriend, Monique Lynch, pleaded guilty to child abuse causing death and was sentenced to 27 years.

Lynch had been charged with first-degree murder, but that was dropped after she agreed to testify against Sims.

Lynch told detectives that Sims grabbed his daughter by the throat and punched her in the chest, causing her to collapse. When his attempts to revive her failed, Sims allegedly told his girlfriend he wanted to dissolve the body in the tub with acid but changed his mind after learning he would need a special license to get the type of acid he needed, according to a detective's testimony.

Sims' trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 30.

However, Sims' attorney now wants the first-degree murder charges dropped, saying that a tape recording proved that detectives misrepresented what Sims said in a jailhouse confession, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

But the judge said dismissing the case because of improper police behavior would be too extreme and wouldn’t serve the interests of justice, the newspaper reported.
In an interview in July 2010, Sims and Lynch told KRDO-TV that they buried their 9-year-old daughter in the basement crawl space of a Monument home, saying they found her dead in the shower.

Lynch said they couldn't find a pulse and the girl had turned blue.

"My husband tried to give her mouth to mouth ... but she was blue," Lynch said.

"We don't know what the hell happened to her. I didn't kill her," Sims said.

They said they laid the girl's body on a bed in the master bedroom.

"We just sat there and stared at her for at least two days," Lynch said, describing their state as "just totally unbelievable shock."

Then the couple decided to bury the girl in the basement.

"We put flowers. We prayed," Lynch said of the basement burial.

When asked why they didn't call 911, Lynch said that is a question both struggle with each day. She admitted it was a "dumbass" mistake, but was worried she would get into trouble for leaving Genesis alone while the couple went next door to a neighbor's home.

When asked about the girl's whereabouts, after she hadn't been seen for some time, the couple told neighbors Genesis had been sent to live with an aunt back east.

In April 2011, Lynch changed her story and gave investigators at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office an eyewitness account of Genesis' death, which she characterized as part of a long history of child abuse by Sims.

Sims' attorney, Matthew Werner, said in court that Lynch's statements since her arrest have been riddled with "wonderful inconsistencies."