Three-year-old Jamila Smith was brought to a Detroit hospital in September 2014 by her mother, Jasmine Gordon, and Gordon’s boyfriend, Clifford Thomas, who said the child had run into a wall and then lost consciousness. Medical examiners found multiple blunt force injuries, including severe head and chest trauma inconsistent with that explanation, and Jamila’s death was ruled a homicide.

Investigators concluded Jamila had been physically abused by Thomas. Neighbors said the couple had recently moved into the neighborhood, and Child Protective Services had been in contact with the family a week before Jamila’s death, reporting the child in good health. Gordon and Thomas were both arrested and later convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

At the August 2015 sentencing hearing Jamila’s father, Dwayne Smith, rushed the defendant Thomas and struck him before deputies intervened; Smith was not charged for that action. Gordon was sentenced to seven to fifteen years for involuntary manslaughter plus fourteen to twenty-five years for child abuse. Thomas received about six to fifteen years for involuntary manslaughter plus one to two years for resisting and obstructing an officer.

If anyone knew Jamila, her caregivers, or the household where she lived, please share what you remember.