Man accused of assaulting toddler who died Saturday pleads not guilty

A 19-month-old girl died at the hospital after suffering severe injuries in Spokane Valley while in the care of her mother’s boyfriend.

Police on Saturday arrested the man, 19-year-old Mickey E. Brown Jr., on suspicion of first-degree assault of a child.

Brown was booked into Spokane County Jail on a $1 million bond. At his first appearance in court Monday afternoon, the county prosecutor’s office announced that the girl died Saturday morning. Brown pleaded not guilty to the assault charge and to an outstanding third-degree theft charge.

A woman at the hearing who identified herself as a spokesperson for Brown and his family gave a statement after the appearance. The woman, who identified herself as Kim and declined to provide her last name, said the Brown family has received death threats in response to the case. She said the public should wait for all of the facts before deciding Brown’s guilt or innocence.

“There are two families grieving,” the family spokesperson said. “There are lives hanging in the balance. Threatening more lives is not helpful or productive.”

Deputies on Wednesday responded to a medical call of a 1-year-old who could not breathe on her own and had severe injuries. They transported her to the hospital, according to a news release from Spokane Valley Police Department.

According to police, Brown told detectives he had been running with the infant in his arms after she started to have a seizure, but tripped and fell on her, the release said. The victim’s mother was working at the time of the incident, according to the news release.

Two days after the infant went to the hospital, a doctor treating her told detectives the injuries matched a nonaccidental, intentionally inflicted type of child abuse.