NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – On April 5, Newport News police responded to a home on Cedar Avenue and found a toddler unconscious on a mattress, with paramedics arriving soon after and pronouncing him dead before medical efforts could be made.

On April 24, Zai-Twond Perry was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and felony child abuse.

Since the tragedy, the father’s side of the family of 20-month-old Khaza Lindsay-Holliday has been in an uphill battle to get answers about what happened to him.

Khaza’s grandmother, Kimberly Holliday, said she and her son, Khaza’s father, weren’t getting much information about what happened. After attempting to contact Shammia Lindsay-Holliday, Khaza’s mother, she realized it wouldn’t get any easier. When she was first notified, Holliday was only told her grandson had died. She said she felt in her spirit that something horrific had happened to the healthy 20-month-old. 

“What do you mean he passed?” Holliday said, recalling the notification. “He was just here running around the square with his toys, playing with his Auntie Keke.”

10 On Your Side spoke with her at her home Monday. The living room was still full of his toys as she shared stories about the countless hours spent together.

It was only until Holliday turned on the news and saw 10 On Your Side’s coverage of the court documents that she knew the true intensity of how her grandson was killed.

“When I heard … how he beat my baby, … God, he had broke his ribs,” Holliday said.

According to court documents, Shammia Lindsay-Holliday left the toddler in Zai-Twond Perry’s care the day he died. As of May 5, Perry and Lindsay-Holliday’s relationship is unclear.

Perry told detectives he caught the toddler playing with his own feces, which prompted him to give the toddler a bath. The court documents further mention that while bathing the toddler, Perry squeezed the boy’s ribs in frustration, which align with the hand placement and bruising discovered during the autopsy.

Court documents also indicate the autopsy noted several internal injuries inflicted on the toddler, including multiple broken ribs, a three-inch laceration to the liver which caused internal bleeding, and the preliminary stages of shaken baby syndrome, which caused brain bleeding.

When asked about the injuries to the toddler’s head, court documents showed Perry told officers he hit his head on the side of the tub, which was not consistent with the trauma to his head discovered in the autopsy.

“What would make you beat him that way? There’s nothing that a 1-year-old can do to make you beat him like that,” Holliday said through tears.

Although she said Khaza is usually with his father, a separate court case kept him from being able to be with his son April 5.

Instead, Holliday said Khaza was left with his mother, which his grandmother said was unusual. Holliday said Lindsay-Holliday was at work when she left her son with Perry.

At this time, it’s unclear if Lindsay-Holliday knew about Perry’s criminal record and registry as a sex offender. Court records show Perry was convicted of aggravated sexual battery resulting from an incident in 2015 involving a victim under the age of 13.

Perry told detectives during an interview he texted Lindsay-Holliday, the toddler “gotta go,” while expressing his frustrations. Holliday wishes Lindsay-Holliday would have taken those texts as a sign to go home or contact alternate childcare. She had consistently been the toddler’s caretaker in other situations, and said the day he was killed, she was only a call or text away.

She is hoping her grandson’s tragedy can be used as a reminder to young parents to be more mindful of who they leave their children with. If his story can inspire just one parent to do their research on a caretaker or put their child first regardless of the circumstances, she said she would feel some comfort.

Now, she has only memories, pictures and an urn holding her grandson’s ashes. She’s devastated for her son being robbed of the opportunity to see him grow up, but said her family is holding God close during this time. She told 10 On Your Side she is hoping justice comes sooner than later for the 20-month-old. 

As of May 5, Shammia Lindsay-Holliday isn’t facing any charges in connection to her son’s death.