Infant girl who was 'beaten to death by her babysitting aunt and boyfriend' lived around guns and death her whole life

A baby girl allegedly beaten to death by her aunt and their boyfriend while they babysat her lived among guns, death, and chaos.

Kiya Moore, 21, and her boyfriend Dejon Smith, 34, were charged with first-degree murder after Moore's one-year-old niece Kali Moore was found dead.

The baby girl was rushed to LeBonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis about 3am on August 17 and pronounced dead at 4:01 am, police said.

Doctors said she had a skull and neck fracture, massive bruising on her back, rectal bleeding, a brain bleed, bruised kidney and blood in her lungs.

But even before Kali's mother Kyera Moore left her in the care of her sister, the environment the baby grew up in appeared concerning.

Kyera and Moore's brother Antarius Walton, 24, died only a month earlier, and she posted a photo him holding Kali, captioned 'both of y'all together now'.

How her brother died is unclear, but it was sudden and he was mourned with a riotous evening that laid bare the family's social circles.

Kyera posted photos of a woman who looked similar to herself holding a pistol, standing in front of two men, one of whom gripped a sub-machine gun.

Several other photos showed a group of men and women posing on the street, openly holding guns in the air.

More photos showed Kyera and other friends of her late brother posing next to a memorial with photos of him carrying guns and dressed like a gangster.

Walton was arrested in 2020 for aggravated assault after allegedly beating a woman and causing serious bodily injury, according to an arrest photo by local police. 

Elsewhere in her profile, mingled in with adorable snaps of Kali, were photos of the infant playing with a suspiciously large pile of $20 to $50 bills.

Photos on Smith's profile were no more complimentary, showing him with expensive cars, bling around his neck and seemingly flashing gang signs.

He was arrested in 2022 for firing a gun at a car while children were present, because he was angry that the mother of his child took her new boyfriend with her to pick up their son. 

Smith took a plea deal in that case, but it was not known how long his sentence was. 

His mother Stephanie Redd did her best to portray him as a good son and loving father to his two children.

'I'm so proud of the man you're growing to be. Mother loves you,' she wrote in a tribute on his 32nd birthday in 2022.

She posted photos of him in respectable clothes, smiling and embracing his family and holding his kids, and made a similar tribute in July.

'34 years ago God blessed me with my one an only Dejon Adre the reason I'm a MOM!!!! I thank God for the gift,' she wrote.

'I pray He blesses you with all the desires of your heart. So Happy Birthday son enjoy your special day as if your life depends on it.'

Bianca Crump, the mother of his two children, also chimed in with a comment on Kyera's profile defending him.

'You don't know me, but I am the first baby mother of the guy that was arrested in your daughter's case,' she began.

'Your daughter deserves justice in this. I have a daughter by him and he will never ever hurt a child. He loves children with everything in him. 

'He wasn't the best father to my daughter but I don't think he would beat a baby to death. 

'I was actually cool with your sister. Your sister does not give off as a child abuser. She has kept my son once before. 

'I'm so lost for words and I've dried for this baby ever since I've heard the news. I honestly don't know who to believe but justice will be served.'

Kiya's past is not clean either, as she was charged with four counts of aggravated child abuse and child neglect in February 2022 in a separate case that is still ongoing.

The alleged abuse caused serious bodily injury to a child under eight, though the details are unclear.

Kyera, in a series of heartbreaking Facebook posts, insisted her sister was innocent and explained the bruises and rectal bleeding.

'Please, my sister didn't do it... my baby has birthmarks on her back that never went away and rectal bleeding is caused from her being constipated,' she wrote.

Kyera explained that the constipation was so bad that she she used Vaseline and frequently fed Kali green vegetables so she could go to the toilet.

'My sister ain't did s**t, that's just the n***a she live with,' she insisted. Police declined to comment on her claims.

Kyera left her daughter, who only turned one in June, with the couple about 5pm on August 15 in what was believed to be her home.

Detectives found no baby food in the home on University Street in Memphis, and it was not clear where the baby was sleeping.

Moore and Smith gave conflicting statements to police blaming each other for Kali's death after they were arrested, as detailed in a charging affidavit.

Smith claimed he heard Moore yelling in the back room and the baby crying, then her slam Kali into the floor, walls, and wooden furniture six to 10 times.

He told police that when he asked her what she was doing, she said it was nothing and that the baby was crying too much and getting on her nerves.

When Smith entered the room, he claimed, Moore stopped and he saw Kali was unresponsive and began CPR, stopping to pour cold water on her.

When Kali didn't wake up, Moore called a family member to take her to hospital.

Smith claimed Moore told him Kali was injured when she fell off the bed and hit her head on the nightstand.

Smith has two children of his own from an earlier relationship, one about to start kindergarten. 

Moore claimed she went out and left Smith alone with Kali and when she came home, the infant was unresponsive and he refused to tell her what happened.

Instead, he allegedly told her to say she fell asleep holding Kali and the child fell out of the bed and hit her head on the nightstand - just as he claimed she told him.

Moore agreed that it was she who called a family member to take Kali to hospital.

Police decided to charge both of them with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated child neglect.

Kyera appeared to have learned of her daughter's death later on Saturday morning when she began a series of mournful Facebook posts.

In several posts she begged for God to kill her and let her daughter live instead.

'Please take me lord please I'll do anything pleaseeeeeee god pleaseeeeeee take me,' one of them read.

'My heart my literal heart in tiny human form is gone... why god please tell me why help me understand why.

'My reason for not giving up on myself is gone... what [am I] supposed to do now?'

Kyera's most recent post wondered if her daughter's death meant she didn't deserve her, and explained how Kali kept her depression at bay.

'I swear I was great to her I loved her with my whole heart she wanted and needed for nothing,' she wrote.

'She knows she was loved by everyone and made anybody she came into contact with happy y'all, I swear she was a angel and didn't deserve this.'