Vigil Mourns 10-Month-Old Girl Dead After Sexual Assault, Beating

PASADENA, MD — The 10-month-old girl who died from injuries suffered when she was beaten and sexually assaulted, reportedly by the boyfriend of her mother, will be remembered Friday night at a Pasadena candlelight vigil.

The family of young Emmaleigh Barringer will remember her with candles, balloons and lanterns at 7 p.m. at Riviera Beach Community Park, 131 Meadow Road in Pasadena.

The child’s family in Anne Arundel County is calling for support from friends and neighbors as they mourn the horrific death. Relatives have set up a “Help for Emmaleigh” GoFundMe site to raise money for medical and funeral expenses. So far, $31,832 has been donated to the family.

Authorities in Ripley, West Virginia, have charged Benjamin Taylor, 32, of Cottageville, West Virginia, with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault in the baby’s death; he is not the victim’s father. He is being held on a $2 million bond in West Virginia.

According to posts on social media from the baby's family, the mother had recently moved to West Virginia from Pasadena, reports Arundel News Network.

Deputies in Jackson County, West Virginia, say the baby's mother awoke Monday night to find Taylor in the basement with her daughter. The unresponsive child was naked, bloody and not breathing, the family said. Doctors say Emmaleigh suffered trauma to her lower extremities and bruising to her face and head, described by deputies as the worst case of sexual assault they have seen in two decades, reports WCHS.

She died on Wednesday at a West Virginia hospital.

Taylor told investigators he took the baby to the apartment basement while doing laundry, blacked out and didn't know how the baby was injured, the Associated Press reports.

Funeral arrangements for Emmaleigh have been made, according to the family.

Viewings will be held on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at McCully Polyniak Funeral Home, 3204 Mountain Road in Pasadena.

The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at the funeral home, followed by a noon burial at Glen Haven Memorial Park, 7231 Ritchie Hwy. in Glen Burnie.

»Photo of Emmaleigh Barringer courtesy of GoFundMe