CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – Court documents reveal new details in the case against a convicted sex offender accused of killing a 2-year-old girl in Chesapeake.
Harvion Liontel Simpkins, 35, is charged with second-degree murder after the toddler died at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters on March 30. The girl was admitted to the hospital the day before with life-threatening injuries.
Simpkins is a registered sex offender. He was convicted of carnal knowledge of a child between the age of 13 and 15 years old in Accomack Circuit Court in 2010.
Court records show that the toddler’s mother, Tiesha Burton, first called 911 at 12:31 a.m. on March 29 after she and Simpkins got into an argument over allegations that she was cheating on him. She told police he had threatened to beat her if she brought anyone with her to their shared hotel room at In Town Suites in Greenbrier.
Burton left her children, the toddler and an infant with Simpkins on March 28 while she was working. Burton told police the argument escalated to the point she felt she needed to get her children and belongings from the hotel room, so officers escorted her, court records state.
A detective working the case reviewed body camera footage of Burton and the officers in the hotel room. That detective described what they saw in an affidavit for a search warrant.
The body camera captured video of the toddler walking to her mother and falling limp. Burton carried the toddler to the bed, where she remained limp while her mother dressed her. Burton sat the toddler up to put a shirt on her, but the child fell over on the bed. She remained limp as Burton carried the children out of the hotel room. Video captured what appeared to be a bruise above the toddler’s right eye, court records state.
The detective wrote that Simpkins was in an “irate state” and screamed at Burton while she was trying to dress the toddler.
Police received another call six hours later, this time from CHKD. Burton brought the toddler to the hospital because she was visibly bruised and was acting lethargic and abnormal. Doctors examined the toddler and said she had internal injuries and trauma, including a depressed skull fracture. Doctors said the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma or child abuse, according to court records.
Detectives interviewed Burton at the hospital. She said the toddler wasn’t injured when she left her with Simpkins, but he told her that she fell at some point. Doctors said the toddler’s injuries were not consistent with a fall and likely stemmed from violence.
Police searched the couple’s hotel room and collected several items, including two swabs from suspected blood stains.
Simpkins declined an interview request with 10 On Your Side. He’s currently in custody at the Chesapeake City Jail without bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled in Chesapeake Juvenile and Domestic Relations court on July 11.
