CHICAGO — An Englewood man is charged with beating his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter to death while he baby-sat her.
Devell Johnson, 23, allegedly attacked Armaney Cotton inside his home in the 5500 block of South Emerald Avenue on April 14, authorities said. The South Shore girl also had been bitten, court records revealed.
Armaney's mother, Brittany Cotton, had dropped Armaney off at Johnson’s home in the morning so she could work as a housekeeper at a downtown hotel, said Jacques Allbritton, the girl's uncle.
Armaney, of the 1800 block of East 72nd Street, was pronounced dead at 4:42 p.m. after police responded to a call of an unresponsive child in bed.
Allbritton described the toddler as a bright girl who loved pink.
“She knew how to love without even knowing what it meant,” Allbritton said.
Allbritton said Johnson and Cotton’s mother had been together for about two years, though he was not the father of the girl.
Johnson is charged in Armaney's murder and has pleaded not guilty, according to court records.
