Father facing murder charges in baby's death shares his story

By Ashley Wharton
NBC12 News
Tuesday, March 14, 2006

A Henrico father facing murder charges in the death of his infant daughter, now wants you to hear his side of the story.

A defense attorney for 22-year-old Andre Madison says they do not believe the murder charge against him will stick. Madison turned himself over to the Henrico Sheriff Tuesday morning to be processed on the charges a grand jury brought against him on Monday.

His attorney says Madison is anxious for that trial to start, because he wants his side of the story told.

Nearly six months after 10-month-old Kyiah Taylor Madison was found dead, still strapped in her car seat in the backyard of her babysitter's Richmond home, there are still many unanswered questions as to how she got there.

Initially, the baby's father, Andre Madison, claimed he dropped Kyiah off at the sitter's alive. Now, he admits through his attorney, that was not the case.

“He forgot her in the back of the car. It’s a tragedy, it happens every summer,” says Madison’s defense attorney Virginia Munoz. She says her client never intended to harm his daughter. “I think you’ll see that this is a tragedy. This is an accident. It’s that heart-stopping moment when you realize, ‘Oh my God, what have I done?’”

Now, sitting in a Henrico jail cell, Munoz says Madison is the first to admit he made a terrible mistake. But, does not believe he's guilty of murder.

"He does take responsibility for the death of his baby girl,” says Munoz. “But, I have a feeling that the commonwealth's going to come down off that murder charge real soon, as soon as Henrico's had an opportunity to look at all the evidence."

Meanwhile, Richmond prosecutors have dropped felony child neglect charges against Madison so he can be tried on the new charges in Henrico.

Madison is expected to appear in a Henrico courtroom Wednesday morning to face these latest charges. The prosecutor handling his case did not return our calls for comment.

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