(Story Courtesy of BlueLivesMatter.blue) Jackson County, West Virginia – If you don’t want your day ruined we suggest you stop reading now. As police we see many disturbing things, the worst of which being incidents involving children. Deputies in West Virginia have confirmed that a 10-month-old baby has succumbed to injuries sustained during a sexual assault by a mother’s boyfriend.

WSAZ reports that on Monday, deputies were called to a house on Meadowlark Lane in Ripley and upon arrival encountered the mother of the baby, Amanda Adkins. She was holding her child, Emmaleigh Barringer, in her arms and it was apparent there was a large amount of blood. The mother informed responding deputies that she woke up and found Emmaleigh naked in the apartment basement with the lights out.

Benjamin Taylor, 32, of Cottageville, the mother’s boyfriend, was on scene when deputies arrived and stated he was unaware of any injuries on Emmaleigh. Taylor would later tell deputies that he took Emmaleigh to do laundry in the basement and “blacked out.” A search of the home revealed that there were bloody clothes and a blanket in the basement.

Taylor was subsequently arrested, and when questioned by deputies his story changed multiple times. They also observed him trying to rub something off himself. After getting a search warrant for Taylor’s clothing and DNA deputies noticed blood on his body that they believe belonged to Emmaleigh.

Further investigation revealed that Emmaleigh not only sustained injuries from the violent sexual assault but also had severe bleeding due to being struck in the face. Deputies added Benjamin Taylor did absolute nothing to help save this poor child’s life.

Wednesday morning, Emmaleigh was officially declared brain dead and later that afternoon would be taken off life support.  At this point the mother is believed to not be involved and her other three children in the home were unharmed.  Benjamin Taylor is being held on a $2 million dollar bond, charged with first degree sex assault and charges for murder are pending.  Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs stated “I’ve been here 25 years and we’ve never encountered something of this nature. I don’t know if we’ve had anything like this near here.”

Crimes like this anger us to the core and we ask that you keep Emmaleigh and her family in your thoughts and prayers.