A Jacksonville judge ordered a couple be held without bond on upgraded murder charges in the death of 5-year-old Zykerria Robinson.
Zykerria's mother, Michelle Cannimore, stared straight ahead inside the Duval County courtroom. Her boyfriend, Jonte Harris, faced the judge immediately after her.
PREVIOUSLY: Mother of dead 5-year-old Jacksonville girl charged with murder
Police say Zykerria was found unresponsive at their Jacksonville home.
The Medical Examiner's Office completed an autopsy on the victim and ruled the manner of death as a homicide and the cause of death as "blunt impact head trauma."
An incident report reveals when police got to the house, Cannimore claimed Zykerria fell in the bathtub --- but Harris admitted that was a lie.
The police report said Harris beat Zykerria until she was unconscious. The report said Harris told police he hit the victim in the face and head with the back of his hand.
Harris admitted to police that he became enraged because the 5-year-old was not being respectful and not listening to him or her mother, according to the report.
The report said Cannimore told police she was aware of the abuse that had been taken place for a few months by Harris.
She said that the night Zykerria was beat to death, she observed Harris punch Zykerria in the face and head until she was unconscious, the report said.
According to the report, the 5-year-old was lying on the couch unresponsive for over seven hours before anyone called 911.
Zykerria’s grandparents told Action News Jax Monday that they’d been trying to get custody of Zykerria.
They say the last time they saw her was in July, at a birthday party for her sister. Henry Doyle said after that, Cannimore stopped letting them see their grandchildren.
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“She just stopped bringing them over here, and we didn’t know why,” he said.
Doyle said they’d contacted a lawyer and were in the process of trying to get custody of the children when Zykerria was found unresponsive.
A medical exam indicated long-term abuse. Zykerria’s grandmother told Action News Jax by phone that Tuesday’s hearings bring them one step closer to justice for her.
She said Zykerria’s sister is in protective custody after Zykerria’s death, and that they have a court date early next month to try and get custody of her.
Cannimore and Harris are expected in court again next month.