BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio — Saturday evening around 6:30 p.m. Bedford Heights Police made a welfare check at an area apartment complex.
That call came after 29-year-old Menokka Karr Nealy told family members she harmed her 5-year-daughter, prompting the child’s father and grandmother Gregory Holland and Joy Holland to call 9-1-1.
“I was calling my grandbaby to tell her that I bought her a gift that she asked me to buy her and as soon as I called her mother said she's dead and god's coming to get you," said Joy Holland, concerned.
When officers arrived at the apartment -they found the body of 5-year-old E'nijah Noell Holland laying on the floor in a back bedroom after she was stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife.
Detectives on the case tell 3News – it's early in the investigation and there are no leads yet for a motive on why Menokka would stab her little girl to death.
Sergeant Robert Major with Bedford Heights Police says, "It’s unimaginable to think that somebody would do that to their child. Our hearts go out to the family, especially the child's father. I couldn’t imagine what he's going through right now."
On her Facebook page, Nealy frequently posted about her daughter. One of her more recent posts dating back from E’nijah's 4th birthday, “My day one. I love you. So happy you chose me to be your mommy."
3News learned the child’s father, Gregory Holland, had been concerned for his daughter’s safety recently. He was in the process of trying to gain custody of the 5-year-old.
However, COVID and recent snowstorms delayed those custody hearings in family court.
Nealy was arrested at the scene and booked into Cuyahoga County Jail on charges that include aggravated murder.
Her initial court appearance is set for Tuesday.
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