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Father heads to Norfolk court, faces charges for daughter’s death

Posted at 12:22 PM, Nov 28, 2018
and last updated 2019-01-22 10:50:56-05

NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk judge granted a continuance is a case where a man is accused of killing his nine-month-old daughter in November 2018.

28-year-old Kasiam Tinsley was due back in court on Tuesday, January 22, but the medical examiner in Norfolk hasn't finished the autopsy for Tinsley's daughter, so the Commonwealth's Attorney asked for a continuance.

Three witnesses were to testify on Tuesday. Tinsley will be back in court on March 12.

Kasiam A. Tinsley

Tinsley is charged with second degree murder and appeared in court for a bond hearing in November 2018.

Tinsley's attorney says he was hoping to be released so he could take care of his other children, but citing the violent nature of the case and Tinsley's criminal history, the judge said no.

The ruling came after prosecutors revealed new details in the 9-month-old girl's death.

According to prosecutors, Tinsley was granted custody of his nine-month-old twins, a boy and a girl, in August 2018.

On November 13, prosecutors say Tinsley's girlfriend discovered the little girl unresponsive with multiple bruises and swelling around her head and face.

She was taken to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters where she was pronounced dead.

Medical examiners ruled the girl's death a homicide and, according to prosecutors, reported numerous head injuries, including brain hemorrhaging and fracturing on the back of her skull indicating she'd been struck violently at least six times.

Prosecutors said the night before the baby was discovered unresponsive, Tinsley was at home with his twins and several others. They allegedly heard the little girl crying in a bedroom, Tinsley's frustrated voice and then silence.

Tinsley's attorney says he claims his daughter was fine when he left the next morning and that others were home between the time he left and the time his girlfriend discovered his daughter.

He blames the head injuries on a shoe box that fell on top of his daughter. Prosecutors say witnesses also indicated the child fell from a futon that night, but the drop was only a few inches and she didn't sustain any injuries.

Tinsley was mostly silent during November's court hearing. The mother of the child he's accused of killing was in the audience.