Ex-NFL player to go on trial in death of girlfriend's child

A former pro football player was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder and child abuse charges in the death of his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter soon after they moved into his Las Vegas apartment this year.

A judge told former NFL and Canadian Football League running back Cierre Marcelle Wood, 28, that testimony from a detective, firefighter and medical examiner convinced her that Wood and the child's mother, Amy Taylor, inflicted physical injuries that caused the death of La'Rayah Davis.

"We know who was in that apartment during that period of time," Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson said. "We know who was responsible for the ultimate and untimely and horrific death of this child: Mr. Wood and Ms. Taylor."

Former NFL player Cierre Wood, right, who along with his girlfriend, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 5-year-old daughter, La'Rayah Patra Nicole Lamont Davis, appears in court with his attorney Thomas Ericsson at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu TesfayeLas Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Andress-Tobiasson rejected as "ridiculous" a bid by Wood's defense attorney, Thomas Ericsson, to throw out the murder charge for lack of direct evidence that Wood was responsible for the girl's fatal injuries.

"There is simply no evidence that rises to his conduct as to this murder charge," Ericsson said.

The attorney conceded, however, that the prosecution met the standard of "slight or marginal" evidence needed to put the 19 child abuse charges before a jury.

Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson presides during the conclusion of a preliminary hearing for former NFL player Cierre Wood at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Las Vegas. Wood, who along with his girlfriend, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 5-year-old daughter, La'Rayah Patra Nicole Lamont Davis. (Bizuayehu TesfayeLas Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

The judge cited photos of numerous external bruises and autopsy findings that La'Rayah had 20 newly broken ribs, internal bleeding, a lacerated liver and bruises to her heart, diaphragm and connective tissue.

Taylor and her daughter moved in with Wood and his young daughter on March 27, and Andress-Tobiasson said La'Rayah must have suffered before she died.

"She's 5 years old," the judge said. "It's hard for me to even conceptualize."

FILE - This undated Clark County Detention Center photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Cierre Wood. Wood, a former NFL player, was arrested April 10, 2019, in Las Vegas and is charged with murder and felony child abuse in the death of La'Rayah Davis, the 5-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, Amy Taylor. Wood was ordered Wednesday, May 22,2019 to stand trial in state court on murder and 19 felony child abuse and neglect charges in the death of his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter less than two weeks after they moved into his Las Vegas apartment. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP, File)

Wood, who played for the University of Notre Dame before NFL stints with Houston, New England and Buffalo, is held without bail pending his arraignment next Tuesday in state court. He could face up to life in prison if he is convicted. His attorney says Wood will plead not guilty but declined to comment outside court.

Taylor, 25, is jailed and faces a separate preliminary hearing Aug. 5. Her attorneys watched Wood's hearing and declined to comment afterward.

Detective Jessica Rogers testified that Wood said he spanked the girl when she misbehaved, but Taylor disapproved so he turned to exercise as discipline and had La'Rayah do sit-ups and other exercises, including running sprints in the apartment. He called it "learning through fun."

Wood, who was released by the Montreal Alouettes in Canada in May 2018, told detectives that La'Rayah complained of chest pains and lost her appetite in the days before she died but that she was tough and could handle a lot of pain, Rogers testified.

The day she died, La'Rayah "got to a point she could no longer do a sit-up," Rogers said. Wood told police he pulled La'Rayah's shirt forward and when he let go, she fell backward and hit her head on the carpeted floor.

Wood said he could tell La'Rayah was injured, called Taylor and had his daughter call 911, Rogers said. Taylor, a certified nurse's aide, told police she was at the store at the time.

Paramedics reported finding La'Rayah unresponsive at Wood's apartment. She died at a hospital.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.

The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country's Saada province.

Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi's slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday's shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.

Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.

The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.

A Houthi supporter raises a mock rocket during a rally against the U.S. and Israel and to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, April. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)