COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An Austin man has been charged with murdering his 2-month-old granddaughter earlier this year.
Baby Katana Hornbuckle was found dead, foaming at the mouth, inside her grandfather's home about 8:30 a.m. July 24, prosecutors said.
An autopsy revealed the girl died of blunt force trauma to her head, a subdural hematoma and internal bleeding. Based on the severity of the injuries, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled, Katana would have been dead within minutes of her fatal beating.
The girl and her 1-year-old brother had been staying with grandfather Roderick Pickett in the 800 block of North Waller Avenue the weekend of July 22-24, Assistant State's Attorney Jullian Brevard said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
Pickett's wife last saw Katana alive about 11 p.m. July 23, prosecutors said.
The woman soon left the apartment she shared with Pickett, 50, to spend the night with her mother, who has Alzheimer's disease and needed a caretaker, according to Brevard.
When Pickett's wife returned home the following morning, she found Katana's unresponsive body and called 911, prosecutors said.
Pickett is charged with first-degree murder.
No other details were immediately available.
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