5-Year-Old Auburn Girl Died of Child Abuse; Stepfather Faces Capital Murder Charges

Auburn Police was informed about the death of a 5-year-old Auburn girl who suffered from severe injuries from the hands of his stepfather.

Caley Presley was on life support after being rescued by the police from her home. According to Auburn investigators, they reached Presley in a Roise Street duplex last Sunday, June 7 at 12:07 p.m. to respond to a call about a child with head injury, reports WFSA. The young girl was unresponsive when the Auburn police found her. Presley's mother was at work when she was beaten to death by her stepfather.  

Presley was initially transported to East Alabama Medical Center for medication. However, the girl was later flown to UAB Medical Center, AL.com reported.    

When Presley arrived at UAB, she was determined to have several injuries, such as a broken clavicle, basilar skull fracture, a broken femur, bruising all over her body and numerous internal injury, according to the affidavit, WTVM.com notes.

The alleged suspect, Presley's stepfather, George William Barton, 34, was arrested and charged with first-degree domestic violence and child abuse. 

When Barton was interviewed by the Auburn police, he admitted to have inflicted the young girl with a belt over several occasions for approximately two days. After his admission, the charges against him were upgraded to capital murder.

He is now under custody and is held at Lee County Detention Facility without a bond. Barton's case will be reviewed again in July, but he will wait for the proceedings behind bars.

People called to pray for Presley's recovery. However, the little girl did not make it after being in life support for days. She was declared dead by the physician in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, 6:30 p.m. last Monday, WSFA states.

Capt. Lorenza Dorsey from the Auburn Police Department said, "It has been a traumatic experience for all involved, but we are committed to bringing justice to Caley."

Presley's case had been an eye opener to the law enforcement.

WTVM, in a separate report, says that law enforcement agencies released a list of indicators of child abuse, namely physical and behavioral indicators. Physical indicators of child abuse includes bruises, welts, cigarette burn/s and infected burn/s that may due to delay of treatment. Behavioral indicators of child abuse include withdrawal, aggression, excessive fear, regression, depression and unusual shyness.