Background: A section of the 2100 block of South Beechwood Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Google Maps). Inset left: Sean Hernandez (Philadelphia Police Department). Inset right: Key'Monnie Bean (Philadelphia District Attorney's Office).
A Pennsylvania man is accused of beating his girlfriend's young daughter and suffocating her to death before leaving her in the basement of a Philadelphia home.
Sean Hernandez, 21, faces multiple charges, including murder, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person, and obstruction of justice, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office announced. Two others who were allegedly in the home at the time of the crime, 21-year-old Anthony Lowrie and 20-year-old Alycia McNeill, are accused of lying to police about what occurred, and they were charged with obstruction of justice.
The child's mother was not charged as of Thursday, according to local Fox affiliate WTXF, but investigators believe she was also present at the home at the time of the attack.
On Dec. 8, Philadelphia police arrived at a home on the 2100 block of South Beechwood Street in the southern part of the city. It is unclear who called them or why officers responded to the house. Once they made entry, they found 2-year-old Key'Monnie Bean in the basement "unresponsive with severe physical injuries along her body."
She was transported to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was pronounced dead.
During a press conference providing updates on the investigation, prosecutors suggested the child may have been abused before the day of the attack. They also stated their belief that Hernandez — who also went by the alias Raafi Gorham — killed Key'Monnie, and that the other two people in the home went along with him in lying about what really happened.
"She obviously had signs of a very serious beating," said Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski. "There's also indications that there perhaps were objects used. … We also have preliminary information that perhaps her airway was compromised and perhaps she was suffocated in some way."
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was overcome with emotion as he talked about the case.
"You don't have to be a parent…" he said while wiping his eyes. "We should be outraged at what happened to this 2-year-old."
Ta'Shaun Walls, Key'Monnie's father, told NBC's Philadelphia affiliate WCAU in an interview shared by the attorney's office that he hopes Hernandez "rots in jail" and "gets the max."
He then addressed Key'Monnie's mother.
"She watched all this happen," Walls claimed. "I feel she should be in jail too and charged as well. She watched this man place hands on my daughter and did nothing about it. And then fled the scene and basically acted like she was nowhere to be found."
Hernandez remains in jail; he has a preliminary hearing on his charges scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.