Itried not to read the story. I knew it would upset me, so I did my best to pretend it wasn't on the page -- Page 1 of The York Dispatch on Tuesday and the YorkToday cover on Monday.

So prominently played, it was difficult to ignore.

In the end, it also was too important to ignore.

Life hardly ever gets more cruel than this in York County. A 2-year-old child, Darisabel L. Baez, died Monday night at the Hershey Medical Center after allegedly being beaten by her mother's live-in boyfriend.

Let me repeat that -- a 2-year-old toddler allegedly was beaten to death with a video game controller by 26-year-old Harve L. Johnson, 710 W. Philadelphia St., York. He is not the child's biological father.

The little girl's body was covered with injuries, many traumatic injuries, according to the coroner who performed an autopsy. "You'd be hard-pressed to find an area of the body that didn't have trauma" either from the beating on Sunday or in the past, the coroner said.

Johnson has been charged with criminal homicide in addition to earlier charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

And the child's mother, Neida E. Baez, 19, also of 710 W. Philadelphia St., York, was charged with endangering the welfare of children because she knew of the beatings and did nothing to prevent their reoccurrence over a period of several months.

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County District Attorney Stan Rebert said a decision hasn't been made whether the mother will face additional charges. An investigation continues.

What we already know, however, according to statements made to police by both Johnson and Baez, is that this little girl had been repeatedly beaten by Johnson over a period of months. The final beating was administered by Johnson last Sunday, after which he tried to revive the child in the bathtub when she became unresponsive.

In other words, Darisabel was beaten to death -- a 26-year-old man allegedly pummeled a 2-year-old child with a hard object until life simply drained from her tiny body.

The child had severe injuries to her head and body when she was taken to York Hospital by emergency personnel Sunday afternoon, and then was flown to Hershey Medical Center, where she was determined to be brain dead.

I've seen cases in York County over the years, where young children have lost their lives. It is always difficult, but sometimes those deaths are the result of an accident, not the fault of any person.

And sometimes the deaths were the result of stupidity or anger or a violent nature unleashed on a vulnerable child. But it's
rare when an adult inflicts this kind of punishment over a period of months leading up to a child's death.

It's beyond sad.

It needs to be said that both Johnson and Baez must be considered innocent until proved guilty in a court of law. That will come later. Justice grinds slowly in cases such as this.

In the meantime, my prayers will go out to a beautiful child who deserved a lot better than she got in this world from people who should have been loving her, taking care of her, protecting her from those who would do her harm.

Darisabel L. Baez -- may she finally rest in peace.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.