St. Paul man sentenced after 2-year-old found with broken bones, burns

Emily Baude KSTP

Rayco Delshaune Traylor (Courtesy: Hennepin County Jail)

A St. Paul man has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a two-year-old child.

Rayco Delshaune Traylor, 32, was sentenced to just over four-and-a-half years (56 months) at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility for two counts of third-degree assault. Traylor pleaded guilty to both counts in August, court records show.

On Sept. 4, officers from Brooklyn Park were called to the 7900 block of Zane Ave. North on a report of a fight between a man and a woman and a two-year-old who was unconscious, according to a criminal complaint.

Officers found a two-year-old girl who was non-responsive and lying on an air mattress with her eyes open, the complaint stated. Law enforcement officials say they noticed what appeared to be a cigarette burn on the girl’s foot, a “burn or gouge-type injury” to her face, a cut on her forehead, and a swollen arm.

The mother of the child told officers that Traylor had been watching her daughter while she was at work but she came home when Traylor stopped answering her calls, according to the complaint.

Traylor was at the home when 911 was called but left before officers arrived, the complaint states.

The mother told law enforcement that she and Traylor had previously thought the two-year-old’s swollen arm was a “nursemaid’s elbow” and had tried to put the arm back in place with steps they found on the internet.

The mother added that she had noticed injuries on the two-year-old the week prior, but she didn’t seek medical attention for the victim because she thought that people would think the injuries were caused by abuse and lose custody of her child, the complaint states.

The victim was brought to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a skull fracture, a vertebral fracture, a spinal cord injury, a fractured tibia and fibula in her left leg, a fractured humorous in her right arm, and numerous burns consistent with cigarette burns. The complaint stated that the victim had not shown movement in her legs since being admitted to the hospital.

Surveillance video from the apartment showed Traylor leaving the building as officers arrived. Law enforcement arrested Traylor several hours later when he returned to the apartment. Officers noted his clothes were bloody at that time.