Former NFL player Cierre Wood has been charged with murder in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter, Las Vegas police confirmed to The Daily Beast.
Wood, a 28-year-old former Notre Dame and NFL running back, was initially arrested Tuesday night along with his girlfriend, 25-year-old Amy Taylor, on first-degree child abuse and neglect charges, police said. Authorities arrested the couple at Summerlin Hospital, where the toddler died around 7:30 p.m. She was brought in with bruises on her body, KSNV reported.
Wood and Taylor each posted $5,000 bail at Clark County Detention Center and were released, according to jail records. But the football player was rebooked Thursday on an additional first-degree murder charge. He’s currently being held on bail, police said.
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“The investigation is ongoing,” a spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said, confirming that the murder charge concerns Taylor’s 5-year-old daughter.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office confirmed to The Daily Beast that the child, La-Rayah Davis, died as a result of child abuse but did not provide the official cause of death.
Wood was drafted to the NFL in 2013 and spent most of his two-year career on practice squads for the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, and Buffalo Bills. Before going pro, Woods played at Notre Dame for three years. He most recently played in the Canadian Football League, according to Yahoo Sports.
It not immediately known whether Wood, who was expected to appear in court on Thursday, has a lawyer.
