Trial for man accused of brutally raping and murdering a 10-month-old baby in 2016
Benjamin Taylor (above), 33, is accused of brutally raping and murdering 10-month-old Emmaleigh Barringer in the basement of her mother's West Virginia home
A harrowing 911 call has been played to a jury during the trial of a man accused of raping and murdering a 10-month-old baby.
Benjamin Taylor, 33, is accused of beating and sexually assaulting 10-month-old Emmaleigh Elizabeth Barringer on October 3, 2016 in a West Virginia home.
Little Emmaleigh died from her injuries two days after the alleged assault.
Taylor faces charges of first-degree murder, death of a child by child abuse, first-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust to a child.
If convicted, he could face life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
His trial entered a second day on Thursday, following a harrowing testimony from the victim's mother. The jury also heard her frantic 911 call.
Yesterday, Emmaleigh's mother, Amanda Adkins, detailed to a Jackson County courtroom how she walked downstairs to the basement of her home in the early hours of the morning to find Taylor - her boyfriend at the time - shirtless and kneeling over her naked daughter with his pants unbuttoned.
'I was confused,' she told the courtroom. 'I asked him what he was doing and he said he was drying her off.'
As she approached the pair, Amanda says she quickly noticed something was wrong as Emmaleigh's face was covered in blood.
The toddler was making a gurgling sound and was cold to the touch, Amanda said. She then rushed her unconscious daughter upstairs and dialed 911.
'I think he f***ing raped her,' Adkins can be heard screaming in a recording of the frantic call which was played to the jury yesterday.
Amanda Adkins, the mother of the victim and the defendant's ex-girlfriend, said she awoke in the early hours of the morning to find Taylor kneeling over the naked, bloodied body of her daughter with his trousers unbuttoned
An autopsy of the toddler confirmed that Emmaleigh (pictured) suffered extensive bleeding and that her injuries were consistent with being vaginally penetrated multiple times by an adult male
After his arrest, Taylor allegedly told deputies that he took the baby to the basement but ‘blacked out’
She tells the dispatcher that Emmaleigh is bleeding from the vagina.
Shortly afterwards, Adkins can be heard wailing at Taylor saying 'What the f*** were you doing? Why is she naked?'
Emmaleigh was rushed to Charleston hospital where she was later pronounced brain-dead.
She died two days later on October 5, after Amanda made the difficult decision to switch-off her life support system.
Emmaleigh died in hospital two days after the alleged attack. She was pronounced brain-dead and later taken off of life-support (pictured: Emmaleigh in hospital shortly before her death)
Body-cam footage shown to the jury on Thursday showed Taylor lifting up his shirt to officers and revealing a bloodstain on his stomach
Adkins had recently relocated to West Virginia from Maryland and started dating Taylor shortly afterwards (Adkins and Taylor pictured together)
An autopsy of the toddler confirmed that Emmaleigh suffered extensive bleeding.
State Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Allen Mock, who carried out the autopsy, testified on Wednesday that her injuries were consistent with being vaginally penetrated multiple times by an adult male.
He also added that her head injuries suggested she had been thrown to ground or slammed against an object.
Today, Jurors were played body camera footage from the attending officers that showed Taylor inside the apartment.
At the request of an officer, the defendant can be seen lifting up his shirt and revealing a patch of blood on his stomach, according to WVAH.
He told deputies the bloodstain must've been from when he picked Emmaleigh up.
An audio recording was also played to the courtroom of Deputy Lucas Casto interviewing Taylor during his detention.
Taylor can be heard saying he wasn't aware the baby was bleeding until someone told him.
Casto also testified how he saw blood on the defendant's thigh that appeared to come from Emmaleigh.
RELATED ARTICLES
Colorado man, 72, who was arrested for cold case 1973 rape... 
Delaware mom, 45, 'shot-dead her 18-month-old baby then...
Share this article
ShareWhen police arrived at the scene to arrest Taylor, officers have previously said they found him trying to 'wipe something' off of his groin, which was later found to be Emmaleigh's blood.
Blood-soaked clothing and blankets were found in the home's basement where Amanda claims she discovered the Taylor.
After his arrest, Taylor allegedly told deputies that he took the baby to the basement but ‘blacked out’ and didn't know how the injuries occurred, documents show.
Adkins had recently relocated to West Virginia from Maryland and started dating Taylor shortly afterwards.
Police found the mother-of-four clutching the baby and covered in blood. Her three other children were at home during the alleged assault.
In the wake of Emmaleigh's death, a petition was launched calling for the hanging of Taylor in the event of his conviction. His Facebook header (seen right) once read 'I will never apologize for being a sex freak'
During previous court appearances, Taylor has been seen wearing a bulletproof vest and flak helmet, escorted by an entourage of Jackson County Sheriff's deputies, following calls of retribution
Adkins' three other children were sleeping in the home when the assault took place
WOWKTV Privacy Policy
In the wake of Emmaleigh's death, a petition was launched calling for the hanging of Benjamin Taylor in the event of his conviction, even though West Virginia abolished the death penalty more than 50 years ago.
The petition drew more than 50,000 signatures before being shut down by the White House.
During previous court appearances, Taylor has been seen wearing a bulletproof vest and flak helmet, escorted by an entourage of Jackson County Sheriff's deputies.
He's appeared in plain clothing for the last two days of the trial, with a more conventional security arrangement.
Despite the evidence, Taylor's attorney Tim Rosinsky claims the police jumped to conclusions in their arrest of the defendant, wavering a proper investigation in the process.
'You will ask yourself, what did the police do when faced with that evidence? What did the scientists do?' Rosinsky said in his opening statement.
'Did they look for a potential other person? You’ll find that the police didn’t do anything. They didn’t look anywhere else because they thought that they found their man.'
In 2017, the West Virginia Legislature passed 'Emmaleigh's law', increasing the sentence for a person convicted of child abuse causing death from between 10 and 40 years, to between 15 to life.
The case is expected to continue for the next two-weeks, according to West Virginia News station WOWK.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKDeXyYcG9sZ4SntqK4jKyrmqqkqHqurc1mmJybpaiypXnArKqarZyptq%2BzjKSgpaSZo7Rutc2fmKesXp3Brrg%3D