Man played video games, drank, smoked marijuana after shaking Gwinnett 2-year-old to death: DA

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — WARNING: Some may find the details in this story graphic or disturbing.

A Gwinnett County man will spend the rest of his life in prison after prosecutors say he beat and shook a toddler to death then drank, smoke marijuana and played video games.

A jury found 27-year-old Mallik Kyhree Kennedy guilty of malice murder and other charges in the death of 2-year-old Trinity Kyles.

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In May 2021, Trinity’s mother asked Kennedy, her boyfriend, to babysit the 2-year-old at the hotel where they were staying. When she returned back from work, she found her daughter wasn’t alert or breathing.

The mother told police that Kennedy said he had given Trinity melatonin to help her sleep. The mother instead found bruises on her daughter.

Prosecutors argued that Kennedy had slammed the 2-year-old’s head repeatedly until she became unconscious. When she woke up hours later, prosecutors say Kennedy “violently shook” her and didn’t call Trinity’s mother or 911 when she started to have a seizure.

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Instead, the DA’s office said Kennedy played video games and watched social media videos while he drank alcohol and smoked marijuana. Trinity died from her injuries.

It took the jury two days to convict Kennedy on malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, and first-degree cruelty to children charges.

On Friday, a judge sentenced Kennedy to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“We continue to grieve with Trinity’s family for this senseless loss,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Although this verdict and sentencing cannot replace this little girl’s future or quell her family’s pain, our hope is that it brings them justice and provides them with some solace.”

Trinity would have turned five on April 9. In her obituary, her family wrote that Trinity loved to watch “Sesame Street,” getting her hair done, playing at the park and taking photos with her family.

“She touched the lives of so many: a beloved daughter, granddaughter, niece, and cousin. Trinity was a shining, happy girl, the light of her family and the star of the hearts around her. She was joy personified,” her family wrote.

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