Man Arrested In Killing Of 3-Year-Old Child Found With Bruises: Police

Belcamp, Maryland -- A 43-year-old man in Maryland has been arrested for his alleged role in the death of a 3-year-old girl Friday.

Deputies with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office took Randolph James Mack, of Essex, Maryland, into custody Saturday morning, CBS Baltimore reported.

Officers responded to a home in Belcamp, Maryland, Friday evening for a report of a child in cardiac arrest. The girl, whose identity was not revealed, was in a living room area of a home when they arrived.

Medics and deputies attended to the girl before bringing her to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, Maryland, but the child was pronounced dead at 11:50 p.m. Friday, authorities said.

Medics and medical center staff found suspicious bruising on the child’s body that looked consistent with abuse, according to deputies.

An investigation led authorities to suspect that Mack had played a role in the death of the girl. Police located him at his home in Baltimore County and took him into custody.

Deputies said that Mack was known to the child, though their exact relationship was not disclosed.

Mack was taken to the Harford County Detention Center, where he is awaiting an initial appearance in front of a District Court Commissioner on charges related to the homicide, according to the sheriff's office.

Detectives with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division have reportedly taken over the investigation of the case.

The investigation into the death of the 3-year-old child is ongoing, and authorities are seeking help from anyone who can provide information or video evidence in connection to the case.

Those who may have information or evidence are encouraged to call Detective S. Moro, with the HCSO Criminal Investigation Division, at 443-409-3154.

In other news, a North Carolina man was sentenced to death this week for the 2019 murder of his teenage daughter, according to a news release from the Union County District Attorney’s Office.

Joshua Lee Burgess, 35, killed his 15-year-old daughter, Zaria, after “psychologically and sexually torturing her for 22 hours” at his home in Monroe, North Carolina.

“This was truly an especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel killing of an innocent child. This case was emotionally taxing for everyone involved. We continue to grieve with and pray for Zaria’s mother,” the news release said.

In addition to one count of first-degree murder, Burgess was convicted of one count of statutory rape, three counts of statutory sex offense and one count of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Burgess received an additional minimum of nearly 76 years in prison for those offenses.