HAMILTON — Tiana Centers cried as she and a Butler County jury listened Wednesday to her boyfriend describe in a videotaped statement to police how he beat her 3-year-old daughter to death.

Miles

Centers

        Kevin Charles Miles said he punched Courtney in the stomach twice after she twice disobeyed his orders to stay seated on the living room floor.

        “I hit her in the stomach,” he said on the videotape, which was taken on Jan. 2, the day after Courtney bled to death from a lacerated liver. “Then I stood her up and hit her again. She gasped for air. I felt possessed.”

        Ms. Centers, 20, of Middletown, is standing trial on a felony charge of permitting child abuse. If convicted, she could face a prison term of three to 10 years.

        After closing arguments today, the jury will begin deliberations.

        Mr. Miles, 27, of Woodlawn, is charged with murder and felony child-endangering. He is scheduled to go on trial May 6.

        The prosecution says Ms. Centers knew she was placing Courtney in danger by leaving her alone with Mr. Miles while going out with a friend to a convenience store on Jan. 1.

        It was during her 20-minute absence from the house that day that Mr. Miles allegedly punched Courtney twice.

Courtney

        On the witness stand Wednesday, Ms. Centers said she had no reason to believe on Jan. 1 that Mr. Miles would beat her daughter.

        “I didn't think he was abusing the kids,” she said. “I wouldn't ever allow anybody to abuse my child.”

        She admitted that she heard a loud smack on Dec. 31 from a room in her house where her boyfriend and Courtney were alone.

        She said she asked Mr. Miles what happened and he said nothing. Courtney didn't cry and didn't appear injured, she said.

        She admitted that she had heard loud smacks two other times when Mr. Miles was in a room with the children. She said she never saw him strike the children on those occasions.

        Ms. Centers said she didn't realize exactly what Mr. Miles had done to Courtney until she watched his videotaped statement Wednesday.

        Mr. Miles said on the videotape that Ms. Centers didn't know on Jan. 1 that he had struck Courtney.

        “She didn't realize it at the time,” he said. “I didn't tell her.”

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