Parents say baby fell from stroller, VA cops say. Both sentenced in girl’s death

A mom and dad are headed to prison after they were accused of abuse that left their 9-day-old daughter dead, Virginia officials said.

In May 2024, Z’Ibreyea Shantel Parker, 22, and her husband, Hilary Darnell Johnson II, 24, brought their 9-day-old baby girl, Iijayah, to a local hospital and told staff the baby, who was “cold to the touch,” had fallen from her stroller and hit her head while her dad was jogging, according to an Oct. 31 news release by the city of Norfolk.

Parker and Johnson told medical staff they didn’t take their daughter to the hospital sooner because they tried to treat her on their own with peroxide and gauze, officials said.

The parents were laughing while checking in at the hospital and were unable to give the girl’s exact birthdate, officials said.

When medical personnel examined Iijayah’s body, they found burns at the bottom of her feet, cuts to her head and face, and bruises on her back, officials said.

An autopsy determined her cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head, with “deep” burns likely caused by hot liquid on her feet being a contributing factor, officials said.

Her injuries, which included several broken ribs, were not consistent with falling from a stroller, officials said.

Both parents denied abusing the baby, but evidence “pointed more strongly’’ ao Johnson, officials said.

Johnson pleaded guilty to murder, and prosecutors dismissed a child abuse charge, officials said. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison and must complete five years of supervised probation after his release, during which he cannot have contact with minors, officials said.

Parker pleaded guilty to child abuse, but prosecutors dismissed a murder charge as there wasn’t enough evidence to support that charge, officials said.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, officials said.

“There is no victim more vulnerable than a newborn baby. Iijayah came into the world in need of love and protection from her mother and father. What she got instead was suffering and death,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said in the release. “This was a difficult case on the facts, and there were real risks in going to trial, since, while there was no doubt about the nature of Iijayah’s injuries, each parent could have blamed the other for inflicting them. In both cases, we secured a conviction and left the sentencing to the wisdom of the judge. We will continue to work the difficult cases and to honor the memory of innocent victims like Iijayah who cannot speak for themselves.”

Norfolk is about a 100-mile drive southeast from Richmond.