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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Father held in tot's slayingPolice said the toddler unplugged Tyrone Spellman's video game, sending him into a murderous rage.By Kera RitterInquirer Staff WriterAlayiah Turman pulled the cord out of a video game while her father was playing. The toddler paid for the infraction with her life, police said.Tyrone Spellman, 25, struck the 17-month-old toddler and threw her across the room last Thursday, police said. When the child's mother returned home to the 1500 block of North 29th Street, Spellman told her the girl was sleeping.After relatives discovered the child's body, police were told that she had fallen off the bed.Spellman, who is also known as Anwar Salahuddin, was charged Monday with murder and other offenses in Alayiah's death. A preliminary hearing scheduled for yesterday was postponed."There's nothing to indicate the child fell off the bed," Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl said. "It appears that the child was hit repeatedly, possibly thrown across the room."In the last month of Alayiah's life, an anonymous caller reported the family to the Department of Human Services. The caller indicated that an adult was yelling at a child who was about 2 years old and that there were holes in the floor of the home, Human Services Commissioner Cheryl Ransom-Garner said yesterday. The caller did not indicate whether the adult was male or female.The next day, a social worker interviewed Alayiah's mother, Mia Turman, and inspected the child and the home. There were no bruises on the child, Ransom-Garner said, and the toddler appeared happy and playful. There had not been any other complaints.There was a small hole in the floor, and a larger hole had been repaired.The agency made another surprise visit Aug. 30 and asked the mother whether anybody else lived in the house, because Human Services performs background checks on each adult in the home. Turman said no, Ransom-Garner said."The first time we went, it was she and the baby. The second time, it was just she and the baby," Ransom-Garner said.Ransom-Garner said the next step would have been to interview family members and inspect the child's medical records. By law, the department has a maximum of 60 days to investigate a case."It's just so heartbreaking," Ransom-Garner said. "This was a case where the child didn't appear to be abused. Obviously the caller knew something about the child and the inside of the house, but they didn't give us much information."</div>http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15512907.htm :thumbdn1:
