9-year-old girl beaten to death, Florida cops say. Now dad and his girlfriend are charged

A father knew his girlfriend was abusing his 9-year-old daughter and is now charged alongside her in the death of his child, Florida authorities said.

Lojuan Sessions, 26, was arrested on an aggravated manslaughter charge, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

His girlfriend, 34-year-old Tyshael Martin, faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect after deputies said she was caught on video beating the girl and encouraging a dog to attack her, McClatchy News previously reported.

Sessions knew Martin was abusing his daughter, “joked” about it and failed to protect her, deputies said. Martin was the girl’s primary caretaker when her father wasn’t around, according to investigators.

On June 10, Martin told Sessions his daughter was in California with Martin’s mother following a cruise, the dad told deputies, according to an arrest affidavit.

But 9-year-old Jamaria Sessions was at home, deputies said.

Sessions told investigators he was attending school and working, and he didn’t know his daughter had been in Florida since the cruise ended June 9, according to investigators.

He said he didn’t see or hear his daughter at home for a few days and believed she was in California, detectives said. Then he left the home himself around June 12 after a falling out with Martin, deputies said.

In the days leading up to the child’s death, investigators said home surveillance footage showed Martin sic a 100-pound dog on the child, kick the girl and drag her across the floor. In one clip, Martin said something that sounded like “I’m fixin’ to kill her,” according to detectives.

Jamaria Sessions died June 17, investigators said.

Deputies said the father seemed to be in “disbelief” that his daughter had been home for about a week.

During the investigation, deputies reviewed cell phone forensics and saw that Martin sometimes bragged to Sessions about the “creative ways” she “disciplined” the 9-year-old, investigators said.

Text messages between the couple showed “they often joked about the abuse, made comments about ‘bootcamp,’ and creating a torturous environment in which Jamaria would suffer long sessions of extreme exercise and extreme physical abuse, far beyond traditional corporal punishment,” authorities said.

On Aug. 27, the final autopsy report found Jamaria Sessions died of blunt force injuries to her head, torso and extremities, according to the arrest affidavit.

Martin was arrested Aug. 28, according to Lake County jail records, and Sessions was arrested two days later in nearby Orange County on a warrant in connection with his daughter’s death, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.

Sessions was on felony probation at the time of his daughter’s death.

Lake County is part of the Orlando metropolitan area.

This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 12:20 PM with the headline "9-year-old girl beaten to death, Florida cops say. Now dad and his girlfriend are charged."