2-Year-Old Atlanta Girl Beaten To Death, Babysitter Arrested

A 29-year-old woman has been charged with murder in connection with the death of a 2-year-old Atlanta girl who was under her care.

Kirstie Flood was arrested Friday for murdering Fallon Fridley, the toddler she had been babysitting since August. She faces charges of two counts of felony murder, one count of malice murder, aggravated battery and cruelty to children.

Sandy Springs Police Department launched an investigation on Dec. 9 after getting a report about an unresponsive child inside an apartment in Sandy Springs. The emergency officials rushed the child to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) but she was pronounced dead, according to a press release by Sandy Springs Police Department.

Flood initially told the investigators that the child had hit her head on a slide at a park and did not wake up, reported the local news outlet AJC. She also called the victim's mother, Kristin Fridley Gantt, and told her the same thing.

However, an autopsy report later revealed that the injuries that led to the child's death were not consistent with Flood's story. The investigators found that child had been beaten to death.

The investigation also revealed that Flood had searched "what type of people enjoy abusing other people's children" and "what does it mean to have a sudden urge to beat a child that's not yours" on the internet, reported the local news outlet WSB TV.

Flood shared an apartment with the victim's family and was a long-time family friend, so Gantt could not believe that she could hurt the child. "It's like this evil was in front of my face for years and I never saw it," Gantt said.

"She was just the light of my life, love of my life," Gantt described her daughter. "This girl was gonna be the next president. She was gonna be a doctor," she added.

In a GoFundMe page created to support the grieving mother, Fridley is described as a beautiful little girl who had her whole life ahead of her. "The babysitter murdered sweet, innocent, Fallon, making a parent's nightmare even more horrific," the page reads.

Flood was previously arrested five times on charges ranging from battery, alcohol abuse and drug possession, reported AJC. When she was last arrested for possession of anti-anxiety drugs without a prescription in November 2012, the court ordered her to undergo 3 years of probation. However, the court later revoked her probation as she failed to comply with the conditions and she had to spend 15 days in jail.