A toddlers death
In the fall of 1992, a 17-month-old girl named Tarricka arrived at Childrens Hospital with a split lip, a fractured skull and bruises all over her body. She would be the 12th child to die in the District that year of suspected abuse and neglect.
In the aftermath, police charged her father, Irving Rudd, with first-degree murder.
Two witnesses told authorities that Rudd had grabbed Tarricka by the neck, hurled her into an end table and then pounded on her chest, according to a Post story that quoted the charging documents. One witness said the girl lost consciousness after Rudd tossed her onto a couch and she hit her head on its wooden back.
Rudd and his attorney, Madhavan Nair, declined to comment for this article. A jury ultimately convicted Rudd, then 23, and he was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
According to court records, Rudd confessed to police: Although Ive killed her, its not intentional, and I realize that I have done something wrong. He said that when the toddler started whining, he picked her up by the neck and then let her neck go, and that when she didnt stop, he took her into a bathroom and put her under the faucet, and her mouth was open from whining and the water just went in.
When an officer asked whether Rudd had assaulted the child before, according to the confession, he replied, Not that one. We both was involved with spanking the other twin too hard and broke her leg.
After Tarricka was taken to the hospital, authorities went to the familys home, where they found the girls twin sister suffering from similar injuries and weighing only 10 pounds."