DeKalb father, girlfriend sentenced to prison for deadly beating of 5-year-old daughter

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A DeKalb County father and his girlfriend have been convicted of the death of the man's 5-year-old daughter.

On Wednesday, 28-year-old Unchinna Myrick pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and two first-degree counts of cruelty to children in connection with the 2021 death of Janiyah Herring.

The guilty plea comes months after a DeKalb County jury found 30-year-old Cedric O’Neal Herring guilty of murdering his little girl.

The backstory:

Prosecutors say on May 29, 2021, Herring carried his daughter into Emory Decatur Hospital's emergency room.

The man told the nurse on duty that they had been in a multi-vehicle car accident and that his daughter had not woken up after she was knocked out in the crash.

After noticing the girl was not breathing, the nurse rushed her in for treatment. Despite doctors' efforts, the 5-year-old girl died at the hospital.

Following the girl's death, a doctor examined her body and discovered that she had bruises and wounds that appeared to be consistent with child abuse. The hospital notified the DeKalb County Police Department, the Division of Family and Children Services, and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the agencies began an investigation.

After interviewing Herring, officials say the details about the crash he provided didn't seem to be connected to any recorded accident. During the session, they say he "admitted that he sometimes used a belt to hit his children when they misbehaved."

Dig deeper:

Janiyah's siblings told investigators that the girl had refused to help clean the house earlier that day and that Myrick, Herring's girlfriend, had whipped her with a cord. When the girl tried to get away, the children said Myrick tied her to a bed and beat her.

The testimony said that Janiyah eventually fell to the floor, at which point Herring reportedly yelled at her to get up and beat him. When he realized something was wrong, he tried to revive her by giving her an ice bath before taking her to the hospital.

What's next:

In September, a jury found Herring guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of first-degree cruelty to children. He was sentenced to life in prison.

After Myrick's guilty plea last week, the same DeKalb County superior judge sentenced her to 50 years with 30 in custody and the remaining on probation.