A Decatur father and his girlfriend have been sentenced to significant prison terms for the fatal beating of his 5-year-old daughter, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced on Wednesday. Unchinna Myrick, 28, entered a guilty plea to Voluntary Manslaughter and two counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree related to the death of Janiyah Herring. Myrick is set to serve 50 years, with 30 years in custody and the remainder on probation, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office.
On a separate trial concluded last year, jurors found Cedric O'Neal Herring, 30, guilty of multiple charges, including Malice Murder, Felony Murder, and Aggravated Assault. The father has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The tragic incident began to unfold when Herring carried his unresponsive daughter into the emergency room of Emory Decatur Hospital, claiming they were involved in a car accident — which was quickly to be disputed.
Medical personnel at the hospital could not revive Janiyah Herring and noted her body bore marks of abuse. After an examination by a doctor revealed injuries consistent with child abuse, the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy, determining that blunt force trauma was the cause of death and ruling it a homicide. During the investigation, Herring's surviving children testified that Myrick beat the girl with a cord and tied her to a bed when she refused to clean the house. Herring later admitted to using a belt on his children as a form of discipline.
Their convictions resulted from the diligent work of the Child Crimes Unit. Senior Assistant District Attorneys Sarah Hilleren and Hannah Pendergast, alongside District Attorney Investigator Kendall Ham and Victim Advocate Jenaiya Coleman, prosecuted the case. Detectives Kearney and Fowler from the DeKalb County Police Department were the primary investigators in unraveling the fabricated car accident narrative that Herring initially provided to emergency room staff. The decisive outcome of the case reflects the justice system's concerted effort to hold individuals accountable for such heinous acts against children.
