A Maricopa County Grand Jury has delivered an indictment charging Alison Clement and Ryan Reed with second degree murder and child abuse in connection with the December, 2012 death of a nearly three-year-old girl in their care. Reed is also charged with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
On the morning of December 11, 2012, Phoenix Police responded to an emergency call of a child not breathing at a residence on South 45th Street in Phoenix. They arrived to find a child in a crib with labored breathing and then not breathing at all. Phoenix Fire transported the girl to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. The child was found to have multiple traumatic injuries all over her body including deep tissue bruising, pattern bruising, swelling and abrasions.
Police learned that Allison Clement and Ryan Reed operated an unlicensed babysitting business out of the residence and that the victim had been in their sole care and custody for the previous month. Reed told police he disciplined the child with physical force which he said was “excessive” at times. Clement indicated she witnessed several of these incidents. Neither defendant sought medical attention for the child for the injuries caused by these actions.
Reed and Clement were originally indicted for murder and child abuse in December, 2012. Those charges were subsequently dismissed without prejudice in September, 2013 when it became apparent that a report from the Office of the Medical Examiner could not be completed by a date certain. On December 5, 2013, Ryan Reed was charged with one count of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of child abuse in connection with the same victim. These offenses are included in the current indictment.