Myrtle Beach man accused of killing baby appears in court over DNA sample
A man accused of beating a baby, leaving the 8-month-old in the woods and later returning to bury her in a shallow grave will be forced to give a DNA sample.
Daquan Simmons was in Horry County court Monday for a hearing to require the sample.
Senior Assistant Solicitor Mary-Ellen Walter requested it for S.C. Law Enforcement Division lab officials. They need the sample to test against evidence collected from the apartment where the baby lived.
Simmons objected to providing one, but Judge Benjamin Culbertson ordered the DNA sample to be taken.
Myrtle Beach police started an investigation in September 2017 about a missing child, Walters said. Investigators determined the baby, 8-months-old Aaliyana McCoy, died in July the same year.
The baby’s mother, LaDasha Harriett, also was charged in connection to the case. Simmons was Harriett’s boyfriend and the two lived together. Walters said Harriett told officers that Simmons beat the baby to death, left the apartment with Aaliyana in a car seat and returned without the baby.
Several days later, Simmons went back to the field in the Socastee area where he left Aaliyana and buried her in a shallow grave, Walters said.
At a December hearing, Simmons rejected a plea offer that would have put him behind bars for 20 years. His trial on a charge of homicide by child abuse is set for the spring.
This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 8:34 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach man accused of killing baby appears in court over DNA sample."
