Warrants allege infant was thrown to the floor
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, August 30, 2017
MOULTRIE, Ga. — An infant girl who died on Sunday received fatal injuries to the head and body when she was slammed into a bathtub and the floor, according to law enforcement documents.
In arrest warrants filed on Tuesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation accused Cedric Deshawn Martin Jr., the 2-month-old girl’s father, of “throwing her down in the bathtub and on the floor” in committing an act of felony child abuse.
Police believe the abuse of Zoee Martin occurred at Martin’s 1327 First Ave. N.W. residence in the early morning hours of Aug. 24.
Martin, 17, was charged on Tuesday with child abuse in the first degree and felony murder. Under Georgia law an individual commits felony murder if a death occurs during the commission of another felony offense, which in this case is the alleged child abuse.
Zoee arrived at Colquitt Regional Medical Center on the morning of Aug. 24 with such severe injuries that she was airlifted to Navicent Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.
She died on Sunday morning. A GBI autopsy performed on Monday “indicated head and body trauma led to her death,” police said.
A Colquitt County Magistrate Court judge denied bond on Tuesday afternoon for Cedric Martin during his first appearance in court. The hearing was a formality, as magistrates are not allowed to set bond for a murder charge, which is one that would require a Superior Court judge.
The GBI is still investigating Zoee’s death, and asks that anyone with information about the case contact its Thomasville office at (229) 225-4090 or the Moultrie Police Department at (229) 890-5449.
The GBI has also asked for anyone with information about another recent homicide to come forward.
Mattie Green Harris, 68, was found dead outside her residence on Third Avenue Northwest July 18. Both the GBI and Harris’s family have asked the community for tips to help find her killer.
Those tips can be called in at the same phone numbers as information about Zoee Martin’s death: (229) 225-4090 for the GBI and (229) 890-5449 for the Moultrie Police Department.
