Woman Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In 2020 Death Of Daughter: DOJ

WASHINGTON, DC — A woman pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to voluntary manslaughter in the February 2020 death of her 11-month-old daughter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Tyra Anderson, 28, of Washington, D.C., was arrested in December 2020 after a 10-month investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department into the Feb. 6, 2020, death of her daughter.

As part of the plea agreement, Anderson will receive a 10-year prison term, with all but three years suspended, on the condition that she have no future unsupervised contact with children. Anderson also must receive mental health treatment. The plea agreement still needs to be approved by the court, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Following the prison term, Anderson is to be placed on five years of supervised release, according to the plea agreement. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for March 31.

On Feb. 6, 2020, Anderson took her daughter, Makenzie Anderson, to Children’s National Medical Center, where the child was pronounced dead. Anderson, who was living at a hotel in the 1600 block of New York Avenue NE, told police that the child fell from a bed on or about Feb. 3, 2020, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Anderson said her daughter “was not active and not acting like herself” the following day, and that she was gasping for air on Feb. 5. On Feb. 6, Anderson said she found the child unresponsive and cold to the touch. She told police that she did not seek immediate medical attention because she was scared, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

On Feb. 7, 2020, the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy. Prior to the examination, the staff washed the child’s body and observed a brown-colored residue on the towels and sponges. A member of the staff noted that the residue looked like make-up or some type of cosmetic. Once the child was fully washed, the examination found multiple contusions to the head and face, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Following a search warrant, cosmetics were found in Anderson’s hotel room. The autopsy determined that the child suffered from multiple contusions to the face and head, skull fractures, and other injuries. The cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma to the head.

Anderson was then arrested on Dec. 4, 2020.