Police: Pair Struck Girl, 14, With Electrical Cord (ICYMI)

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Images: Laren Keiyon McMillian, De’Mari Jahnessa Brannam (PWCPD)

A Dale City man and a Woodbridge woman are facing felony child abuse charges after they were arrested Friday night for allegedly hitting a 14-year-old girl with an electrical cord.

The girl suffered lacerations and welts to her body from the beating in a Dale City apartment, according to the Prince William County police.

Both suspects have been charged with felony child abuse and cruelty and injuries to children. They are Laren Keiyon McMillian, 26, of the 4400 block of Worchester Drive in Dale City, and De’Mari Jahnessa Brannam, 25, of 1354 Eisenhower Circle in Woodbridge, police said.

At 9:11 p.m. Friday, police detectives went to an apartment in the 4400 block of Worchester Drive in Dale City to investigate a child abuse accusation. They found that the victim got into a verbal altercation with Brannam, which escalated into a fight. Brannam assaulted the victim and, at one point, repeatedly struck her with an electrical cord, the police said.

McMillian, an acquaintance of Brannam, also struck the victim with an electrical cord, striking the 14-year-old juvenile in the face, police said.

McMillian is being held without bond at the Prince William-Manassas regional jail, and Brannam has been released on a $2,500 bond. Court dates for both are pending, police said.