Custodial dad finally goes to trial for murder of 8-year-old daughter (Monument, Colorado)

We have a handy maxim here at Dastardly Dads. It goes like this: When the media bothers to report that a killer father is custodial, that fact will be hushed up by the time he finally goes to trial.

And so it is with CUSTODIAL dad HANIF SIMS. There is a long, long backstory about how he got custody back in New Jersey, despite abuse concerns even at that time. And there's the mystery of why a custodial dad supposedly under "investigation" for child abuse was allowed to leave for Colorado. Then there's the mystery about why the mother was never informed about the family court dates. Then there's the mystery of why CPS in Colorado refused to interview the now dead girl privately when the neighbors raised allegations of abuse. All very "mysterious."

See our last timeline for this case here:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2011/06/gal-pal-of-custodial-dad-faces.html

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Father_Returns_To_Court_Faces_First-Degree_Murder_Charges_137271843.html

Posted: 6:32 AM Jan 13, 2012

Father Returns To Court, Faces First-Degree Murder Charges

Hanif Sims, accused of beating his 8-year-old daughter to death and hiding the body, will be in court Friday.

Reporter: KKTV

He's accused of beating his young daughter to death, then burying her body in a crawl space.

Now Hanif Sims is one step closer to going to trial.

Sims stands accused in the death of his 8-year-old daughter Genesis, whose body was found by contractors while digging under the Monument town home where the father and daughter once lived.

Sims pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges last year. His girlfriend, Monique Lynch, accepted a plea deal to testify against him in order to receive a lesser sentence.

Lynch told detectives that Sims and Genesis got in an argument, which ultimately led Sims to grab his daughter by the throat and begin punching her. One punch caused Genesis to fall backwards in the bathtub, knocking her unconscious. When CPR didn't revive the child, Lynch said she and Sims started discussing ways to get rid of the body, ultimately deciding to bury the body rather than burn it, as Sims allegedly first suggested.

Lynch told a courtroom last June that she accepted full responsibility for her role in Genesis' death, that she stood by and did nothing while Sims killed his daughter. She was sentenced to 27 years.

Jury selection for Sims' trial is expected to start later this month.