REED CITY, Mich. — A 4-month-old passed away after she was taken off life support on Wednesday, shortly after a Reed City woman was charged in the case with first-degree child abuse.
In 77th District Court in Osceola County, Savannah Miller, 31, pleaded not guilty to the charge, according to court documents obtained by FOX 17.
Family identified the victim as Renzi McCall, a smiling baby girl whose personality "was bigger than life."
"She won the hearts of our family immediately and we're devastated," Jeremiah White, Renzi's grandfather, told FOX 17. "We're devastated."
White says the alleged incident occurred early Sunday morning around 1:30 a.m.
At that time, he received a FaceTime call from his daughter, stuck outside of her Reed City apartment. She had just returned from work, White said, and was knocking on the apartment door and window, trying to get the attention of Miller, her partner, who was inside.
When Miller let her in, "she saw a glimpse of her daughter," bruised.
"[On the phone,] I was actually witnessing her coming in and saw my grandbaby laying down on her back: unresponsive, lifeless," White said.
The 4-month-old was soon flown to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids where doctors tried to stop seizures and bleeding and swelling in her brain through surgery, but were unable to nurse her back to health.
"The extent of her injuries has killed her," White said. "My baby died today."
The grandfather wants others to remember his granddaughter — "my thick baby" — as a "bundle of joy."
"To lose a grandchild at the hand of someone else... this wasn't a car accident; this wasn't a slip and fall; this was a girl that beat my child," White said. "Know who you're leaving your children with. You don't get a do-over with kids' lives."
FOX 17 has reached out to the Reed City Police Department for comment and has requested a transcript from Miller's recent court appearance.
To support Renzi's family, click here.
