Murder, child abuse charges filed in June death of toddler at Ridgecrest Apartments

A couple has been charged with murder and child abuse in the death of a toddler at Ridgecrest Apartments on June 24.

The Memphis Police Department said in an email Saturday that the child's mother, Keinosha Taper, 20, and Taper's boyfriend Gregory Ford, 27, have been charged in the death of Amelia Taper, a 23-month-old.

They were arrested Friday and charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, first degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child abuse, and first degree murder in perpetration of aggravated child neglect.

An affidavit said Ford and Taper gave inconsistent accounts of the events leading to Amelia's death. Ford told police the child was injured in a fall from a chair and from hitting her head on the interior corner of a playpen.

The Memphis Fire Department responded to a sick party call at 2894 Shady Vista about 12:15 p.m. June 24 and found Gregory Ford performing CPR on Amelia.

The baby was taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead. She had numerous bruises on her face and body, police said.

An autopsy at the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center determined she had numerous internal injuries, police said.

The affidavit on Ford said there were "suspicions of punches or kicks to the abdomen," rib fractures, bruises on face and head, and multiple internal lacerations and tears.

Officer Louis C. Brownlee said police had not been given a cause of death yet by the medical examiner.

The child's death is the 120th homicide of 2017, Brownlee said.