Pittsburgh grandmother charged in toddler's beating death

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A Pittsburgh woman has been charged in the death of her 3-year-old granddaughter on the city's North Side, police said.

Denise Johnson is charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault, corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children.

A 911 call by family members brought first responders to the apartment on East Ohio Street around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Ayla Miller, 3, was pronounced dead a short time later.

Pittsburgh police said the little girl had been living there with Johnson, her grandmother. A witness told police Miller had been in Johnson's custody for about a month and a half.

When the little girl was found, investigators said she "was cold to the touch" and covered in bruises and scratches. In addition, police said blood was on the mattress the girl was lying on.

"That's horrible. I think that's absolutely horrible," said Lisa Propst, who lives in the apartment complex. "I work with children on a daily basis. I absolutely love children and have a heart for children, so anytime I hear that something extremely bad like this happens to children, it breaks my heart."

Investigators also found a likely infected wound on the girl's right ankle and a burn mark on her left ankle, "which is consistent with a cigarette burn," the criminal complaint said.

"When I was little, we went to my grandmother's house. She was someone who was there to help to nurture. When I think of a grandmother, that is what I think of. I don't think of somebody that's going to kill a child," Propst said.

"I can't imagine me doing anything like that to my grandchildren or anyone I know personally who would do that to their grandchildren."

Johnson is now in police custody. She told a relative and investigators that she hit the girl and was sorry.

She is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.