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Crime, Law and Justice
Tim Nelson

Murder charges detail horrifying assault and death of Maplewood toddler

Maplewood police lieutenant
Maplewood police Lt. Joe Steiner talked about the death of a 17-month-old girl on Tuesday. The toddler's mother's boyfriend has been charged in a series of horrific assaults that led to the girl's death.
Tim Nelson | MPR News

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A 26-year-old Maplewood man was charged with second degree murder Thursday after prosecutors say his girlfriend’s daughter was burned, beaten, sexually assaulted and eventually killed.

Terrance Valdez Leslie was arrested Tuesday. Police were called to his County Road B apartment by the girl’s mother around 7 p.m. that day. They found the 17-month-old toddler suffering from severe burns and paramedics took her to Children’s Hospital, where she died.

An autopsy found she had brain injuries consistent with a violent assault, a broken arm and a sexual assault.

“In my 22 years of law enforcement experience, I have never investigated a crime more disturbing or more heinous than this murder,” said Maplewood police Lt. Joe Steiner. He said investigators believe Leslie may have been deliberately recording repeated attacks on the girl with his phone.

The complaint against him says Leslie and the girl’s mother had been dating for a few months, and Leslie had moved in. The woman told police Leslie had recently been assaulting them, but that her daughter was alive and “physically fine” when she left the girl in Leslie’s care on Tuesday.

Four videos on Leslie’s phone allegedly show the girl progressively more injured Tuesday afternoon, apparently struggling to remain conscious, hours before paramedics are called. Leslie later told police she’d been scalded by hot bathwater, but investigators found the tub dry and indications that his phone had been used to search for information on injuries caused by boiling water.

Leslie is being held in the Ramsey County jail. A spokesperson for the Ramsey County Attorney’s office said it is too early to determine if the case would be presented to a grand jury for a potential first-degree murder indictment, but that the matter remains under active investigation.