NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Charges in a Norfolk child abuse case will move forward.
Latoya Smith and her boyfriend, Demont Harris, are accused in the death of Smith's 11-year-old daughter, Heaven Watkins. The case is now heading to a grand jury.
Smith and Harris faced a judge in Norfolk Thursday morning, and loved ones spoke out after the hearing.
Demont Harris' sister Tracey Vaughan said Harris is her blood, but when we asked why she came to court Friday morning, she did not say it was for her brother. She wanted to represent Heaven Watkins.
The little girl is not related to her through DNA, but Vaughan loved Heaven so deeply, she still calls her, her "niece."
“Heartbreaking, really sad, emotional,” is how Vaughan described sitting in the courtroom Thursday morning.
Vaughan and her family took in Heaven, Latoya Smith and Demont Harris for about eight months. Vaughan said she brought Heaven to the hospital in February when the 11-year-old's hand was burned so badly, she needed skin grafts. Harris's child abuse charge stems from that incident.
“No child should have to go through that,” Vaughan lamented.
Authorities believe the abuse didn't stop there. Just three months later, Heaven was dead. According to prosecutors, in May, Harris beat Heaven so badly her small intestine burst. They allege for days the couple fed the little girl only bread and water.
“I'm sad that my niece is no longer with us,” Vaughan told us. “She will be missed a lot.”
On Thursday, Smith, and Harris waived their preliminary hearings, which means the case can now move onto circuit court. Both face a maximum of fifty years in prison if they are convicted.
As Vaughan waits for justice through the legal system, the repercussions of Heaven's death hit her hardest at home. Her young daughters struggle to cope with the loss of a little girl they considered family.
“They really don't understand just yet why she's not here, why she's not living with us anymore,” she added. “So, it's been emotional and sad on both cases.”
The charges, which attorneys amended for legal purposes, now head to the grand jury, which meets October third.
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