Ex-NFL Player Accused of Beating Girlfriend's 5-Year-Old Daughter to Death
A former NFL player is charged with murder after allegedly beating his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter to death, PEOPLE confirms.
Cierre Wood — a former Notre Dame running back who had short stints with five NFL teams — initially was arrested Tuesday at a hospital along with his girlfriend, Amy Taylor, on charges of child abuse and neglect of Taylor’s child, says a spokesman for the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.
Wood, 28, paid a $5,000 bond and was released, according to jail records. But he was rebooked on a first-degree murder charge after the child, La’Ravah Davis, died at Summerlin Hospital around 7:30 p.m. that same night.
He was due in court Thursday. It could not immediately be determined whether he’d entered a plea, whether a new bond had been set, or if he had retained an attorney who could speak for him.
Taylor, 25, was also held on a $5,000 bond on a charge of child abuse and neglect. She was in the process of posting her bond and being released Thursday morning, says the jail spokesman.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police confirmed the charges against the couple to PEOPLE.
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Wood played for Notre Dame from 2009-2012 and entered the 2013 draft but was not picked up; he later signed as a free agent with the Houston Texans, for whom he played in only three games and carried the ball a total of 9 yards.
He subsequently signed with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills — primarily as a practice squad player — and capped his NFL career with two game-day appearances for Buffalo, notching a reception and rushing twice for three yards before a season ending injury in 2015, reports 247Sports.com.
According to Las Vegas TV station KLAS, Wood currently is a free agent in the Canadian football league.
Police have released no other details of the alleged incident involving the child.
