The child was rushed to a hospital and Fayetteville for treatment. Due to the severity of her condition, she was then airlifted to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Hospitals where doctors said she was suffering from bilateral retinal hemorrhages throughout the entirety of both of her eyes and multiple brain bleeds,
per Durham ABC affiliate WTVD. She was pronounced dead a few days after arriving at the facility.
[snip]
WRAL reported that Misty had only been in the care of her father for a few days, which was the result of a court order following an acrimonious custody battle between Ceville and Misty’s mother, Alina Delatorre.
“He had her for three days. That’s it,” the victim’s grandmother, Misty Bray, told the station. “The judge (in the custody case) was so concerned about the benefits that the military offered that she wasn’t concerned about anything else.”
'That's a monster': Army soldier allegedly beat infant to death days after custody order
Only days before Delatorre's death, the baby's parents had been involved in a heated custody battle that played out in Cumberland County court.
The maternal side of the family says Ceville had been absent from the child's life, and that he lived separately from the baby with another woman to whom he is now married.
Court records there show a judge granted primary custody to Ceville, secondary custody to the Delatorre. The baby was supposed to spend six months of the year with each parent. She was three days into her stay with her father when she was hospitalized.
A baby's death was ruled a homicide. One year later, a soldier is still under investigation.
My heart breaks for Misty's loved ones as they try to comprehend and process what that verdict means. I can't even imagine how hurt, helpless and angry I might feel in their shoes.
