Couple Convicted in Small Child's Death

DOUGLAS, GA --A Douglas County couple was convicted Tuesday in the murder of a 13-month-old baby who died in February 2013.

Darius Virger and Alexis Cave will be sentenced in January in front of Superior Court Judge David T. Emerson, according to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

From District Attorney’s statement following the conviction:

Diarra Chappell was living with her mother’s ex-boyfriend, Virger, and his wife, Cave on Feb. 14, 2013.

Both defendants gave initial interviews after the child died where they stated that on the night in question the baby fell out of her high chair sometime in the afternoon but was otherwise fine, according to prosecutors.

They told law enforcement Diarra was given a bottle afterwards, had her diaper changed, and was placed in her crib that night with no issues. The next morning, they claim Diarra was observed non-responsive and was not breathing so they took the child to the hospital.

Upon arriving at the hospital, however, doctors observed numerous injuries to the baby including large bruises to both the left and right side of her head, bruises to her torso and chest area, bruises to her back, numerous hemorrhages and injuries to her eyes, as well as multiple tears to the child’s rectum.

Further medical investigation and an autopsy showed the child suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries to her head, had multi-layered retinal hemorrhages which were consistent with Abusive Head Trauma to the child, and had a significant amount of pooling of blood on her brain from those injuries. The cause of death was determined by the medical examiner to be “Blunt Impact Injuries to the Head” and classified as a Homicide.

During one interview after law enforcement left the room, Cave can be heard on video saying that she is “going to hell” for what they’ve done.

Dr. Stephen Messner, a pediatrician at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta who specializes in child abuse cases testified the numerous physical and sexual injuries Diarra suffered could not have been caused by falling out of a high chair, nor could they be explained by any of the stories offered by the defendants as to what occurred that night.

“It is hard to imagine anything worse than the repeated abuse of a helpless innocent child,” said District Attorney Brian Fortner in a statement. “The death of Diarra Chappell was one of the toughest cases our office handled this year.”

Read more of the District Attorney Office’s release.