Khairy Simon, 27, told a Genesee County judge that 3-year-old Kimora Simon died after her mother, 29-year-old Erika Finley, hit her repeatedly with her fist and an extension cord while trying to potty train the child.
A Michigan man, accused of beating his 3-year-old daughter to death while trying to potty train her, pleaded guilty to murder on Tuesday. Now, he's expected to testify against the girl’s mother, who was also charged in her death.
The man, Khairy Simon, 27, told a Genesee County judge that 3-year-old Kimora Simon died after her mother, 29-year-old Erika Finley, hit her repeatedly with her fist and an extension cord while trying to potty train the child.
Simon has maintainted that he attempted to stop Finley, but that she was “much bigger” than him and “at the time, she felt like she had to get her point across.”
Erika Finley, 29, is also charged in the death of 3-year-old Kimora Simon.
Simon stuffed the girl’s lifeless body into a garbage bag, which he then put in a backpack. He said he buried the evidence in a hole by their home in Flint.
Kimora’s body was never found – police say it's likely animals took the remains.
Authorities believe the child was killed sometime around May 2015.
Investigators first started looking into Finley and Simon after the state's Department of Health and Human Services was notified that their 5-year-old had showed up to school bearing signs of abuse, Fox Carolina reported. That child and another 7-year-old were removed from the home and placed into foster care.
Simon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and removing a body. He is due in court next month for sentencing, and is expected to testify against Finley later on.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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