Menallen Township man arrested in death of 2-year-old
State police arrested a man Tuesday morning in connection to the death of a 2-year-old girl in Menallen Township.
Emmanuel Thomas Dennis, 33, of Menallen Township, is charged with criminal homicide, accused of abusing Margaret Nunn over a number of days. Police alleged he hit the toddler multiple times until she was unresponsive, kicked her across the floor, and refused to let the child’s mother take her for medical attention.
According to the criminal complaint, at about noon Monday first responders found Nunn unresponsive at a home at the Village of Searights, where she lived with her mother and Dennis.
Police said Nunn was found face down with dried vomit around her mouth. She was transported to Uniontown Hospital where she later died.
Medical professionals at the hospital found Nunn had multiple scratches and bruises over her entire body.
Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said it is likely Nunn had died the previous day.
“Our preliminary investigation seems to indicate that she was deceased for quite some time. More than likely more than 12 hours … She probably would have been unresponsive the night before,” Aubele said.
Zach Petroff Emmanuel Thomas Dennis, 33, of Menallen Township is accused of killing a 2-year-old girl at this home in Menallen Township.
On Tuesday afternoon, neighbor Brooklyn Burks, 29, said she’d spent the past night crying over what happened just two doors down from her apartment.
“I watched them carry that baby out in a bag, and it just broke my heart,” Burks said. “I think this is something that is going to keep me up at night for a while. All I’ve been doing is hugging my son and daughter and telling them ‘I love you’ and ‘everything’s all right.'”
Burks said that while Dennis and his family kept to themselves, she often heard arguing going on inside the house.
“They would keep their windows open…and they were always yelling at everything in the house,” she said.
Burks described the yelling as “loud but not loud enough to get the attention of the neighborhood.”
Dennis, who is engaged to Nunn’s mother, told police that the toddler had fallen and hit her head six times over the weekend. He also allegedly admitted to kicking the toddler across the floor in the upstairs hallway.
According to the complaint, due to the bruising on Nunn’s body Dennis did not want to take her to receive medical treatment for fear of triggering a Children and Youth Services investigation.
Police write in the complaint that Dennis repeatedly referred to Nunn as “it” during his interview.
Celia Nunn, Margaret Nunn’s mother, told police that over the previous four days she witnessed Dennis physically abuse her daughter. According to Celia Nunn, Dennis allegedly lifted the child by the arm and carried her to her bedroom. Dennis allegedly then hit the child multiple times until she became unresponsive, police said Celia Nunn told them.
According to the complaint, Celia Nunn wanted to take Margaret to a doctor but Dennis refused.
Aubele said that Dennis created a “systemic pattern of abuse in the home.” He also faulted Celia Nunn, though she is not currently charged with a crime.
“She did nothing to prevent this from happening,” Aubele said. “There will be more charges forthcoming.”
According to Aubele there were also two children ages 7 and 4 inside the home who have since been removed from Nunn’s care.
Dennis is not accused of abusing the other children.
“Maggie was the sole recipient of physical abuse at his hands,” Aubele said.
Dennis was arraigned Tuesday morning before District Judge Michael Defino, who sent him to the Fayette County jail without bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 5.