CLEVELAND — “She should never see the day of light ever again. Ever. Somebody can do that to their own child?”
Those were the words of Gregory Holland who spoke out in court as the mother of his child -- Menokka Karr Nealy -- faced a judge during an arraignment hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Thursday morning. She's facing multiple charges connected to the stabbing death of her 5-year-old daughter last month.
“Is there any way possible to make her bond the highest possible so this can never happen ever again?" Holland asked the judge. "The system failed me. I was fighting for my daughter. They let me down.”
During the brief hearing, however, the judge continued Nealy's initial $2 million bond amid her not guilty plea. Her case has now been assigned to Judge Nancy Russo.
Nealy, 29, faces charges of murder and felonious assault in the case.
The situation started around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12 when the Bedford Heights Police Department responded to a call that a child had been stabbed at an apartment in the 5300 block of Northfield Road.
Upon their arrival, officers say they found the girl with multiple stab wounds. She has been identified as E’nijah Noell Holland. Nealy was arrested at the scene.
"It’s unimaginable to think that somebody would do that to their child,” Bedford Heights Police Sergeant Robert Major previously told 3News. “Our hearts go out to the family, especially the child's father. I couldn’t imagine what he's going through right now."
The child’s father, Holland, had called 911 saying he was concerned for his child after receiving a FaceTime call from Nealy.
“She said she stabbed her,” Holland told police.
3News' Carmen Blackwell reported last month that Holland was in the process of trying to gain custody of his daughter. Those custody hearings were delayed, however, due to COVID and recent snowstorms.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE IN THE CASE:
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published on Feb. 14, 2022.
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