Family Of 6-Year-Old Beaten To Death Demands Answers, Justice

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Family members of a 6-year-old boy beaten to death one day after Christmas spoke out Monday, demanding justice and answers.

According to police, Dayvon Taylor was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach Dec. 26 around 6 p.m. He died shortly after from injuries consistent with a severe beating, according to the district attorney's office.

"I had to bury a grandson," David Nicholson Sr., Dayvon's grandfather, said. "He ought to be burying me."

Prosecutors said 23-year-old Tyler D'Shaun Martin-Brand, from Downey, had been taking care of Dayvon for several days over the holiday break. Martin-Brand has been charged with murder.

"I want justice for my son, and I need answers," David Nicholson Jr., Dayvon's father, said.

Family members said Dayvon first met Martin-Brand at Normandie Elementary School in South Los Angeles as part of an after school program. Martin-Brand was a coach and, according to the family, an acquaintance of Dayvon's mother.

"When school started back, he started being with the coach like every weekend," Dominuque Nicholson, Dayvon's aunt, said.

On Monday afternoon, Dayvon's family met with Los Angeles Unified School District officials to talk about the school's policy regarding staff members spending time with students off-campus and outside of school hours.

The district released a statement that said, in part:

"Los Angeles Unified will conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the extent to which Mr. Martin-Brand violated our policy pertaining to non-school-hour access and association with students."

Martin-Brand is in jail on a $2 million bond.

"I do forgive him, what he did," Dayvon's grandfather said. "But I won't forget."