Broken ribs, blunt force trauma: Homestead parents killed 6-month-old baby, cops say

Homestead police officers made a gruesome discovery last weekend when they were called to an emergency room — a dead six-month-old baby with fractured ribs and internal lacerations, cops say. Detectives point to her parents, who have a history of domestic violence, as the murderers.

Around 1 p.m. Sunday, two Homestead officers rushed to the pediatric emergency room at Baptist Health Homestead Hospital after infant Nalani Adalee Allen was pronounced dead despite doctors’ best efforts, an arrest report read.

When her parents, Arnelle Floyd and Nathan Allen, brought her into the emergency room, she was suffering from cardiac arrest. An x-ray revealed the child had “several fractured ribs in different stages of healing and multiple bruises throughout the victim’s torso, consistent with child neglect and/or child abuse.”

A later autopsy would confirm the blunt force injuries as well as “numerous fresh contusions, internal bleeding and large lacerations to internal organs....”

Floyd and Allen on Wednesday were arrested and charged with first-degree murder while committing aggravated child abuse.

Days earlier, officers say Floyd and Allen voluntarily went to the Miami-Dade Police Department to answer questions. During the investigation, both parents contended Nalani never suffered any injuries from a fall or otherwise and did not know the cause of her death.

The morning of her death, Floyd told detectives she left Nalani sleeping in bed with Allen to go to a beauty appointment. A few hours later, Allen called and texted her that Nalani was not okay, the report read.

Allen said he woke up, fed Nalani milk and left her in bed. When he returned an hour later, he thought Nalani seemed “lethargic.” He called Floyd and then went to the hospital.

Officers executed a search warrant on their home and found fist-sized holes in the walls as well as in the refrigerator door. In the arrest report, police said the house was in disarray.

The investigation also revealed there were numerous reports of domestic violence. Neighbors described the disputes to police as “violent” with items and people being thrown into walls inside the home, the report read.

Nalani’s pediatrician told detectives that her last visit was on May 10 and she “did not show any signs of bruising or broken bones despite being underweight.”