Father is charged in death of toddler

Sonja Navarro spread mementos of her 13-month-old daughter across her lap and sofa Friday as tears welled up in her eyes: a lock of chestnut hair tied with a yellow bow, a tiny handprint on white paper next to Navarro's own inked palm, pictures of the toddler lying still and quiet.

The keepsakes of Nevaeh Rae Jones, who called every animal "puppy" and danced to rap music, were all made Wednesday, the same day doctors said she was brain dead from apparently being shaken.

Nevaeh's father, Jamie A. Andrews, 25, of Andover, was charged Friday afternoon with two counts of second-degree murder in her death.

Preliminary tests found narcotics in her bloodstream, but authorities need further tests.

"I soaked that little girl with my tears," Navarro said of her last moments with her daughter. "I just wanted her to know I was sorry. I was sorry that I failed her. I was trying to provide a life. I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving her with her dad."

Navarro, 23, of Brooklyn Park, spoke through tears as she recalled how her approximately 90-hour workweek as a nursing assistant forced her to leave Nevaeh with Andrews' mother for days.

She said she dropped the toddler off with the grandmother Sunday afternoon with plans to pick her up Wednesday morning. Andrews lived near his mother and often saw Nevaeh, who was born after the couple ended their seven-year relationship, Navarro said.

That evening Amy Nelson rushed across her back yard towards Andrews' duplex in the 2500 block of Bunker Lake Blvd. N. when the flash of ambulance lights grabbed her attention about 8 p.m. Her daughter was playing with Andrews' and Navarro's 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. The older children lived with Andrews while Nevaeh lived with their mother.

Andrews paced his duplex in panic as his live-in girlfriend, who had two children under 4 living there, stood nearby, Nelson said. Nelson took the frightened older children to her home.

Andrews' daughter said "they" shook Nevaeh because she wouldn't wake up, Nelson said. "He was a mess" emotionally, she said. "When he came [to my apartment] he could barely stand."

Navarro called her ex-boyfriend "immature" but nonviolent toward their children. However, he has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct three times since 2002. Most of those began as domestic assault cases, said Capt. Bob Aldrich of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.

Several of Andrews' family members and supporters were in court for his first appearance Friday and declined to comment.

Andrews told authorities that Nevaeh had been crying, fussy and threw up once that day; she was treated for flu-like symptoms in the previous days. According to the charges, he said he put her down for a nap at 5 p.m. He checked on her later and found her lifeless. She was found to have severe brain and eye injury.

Authorities said the other four children in the household are in foster care.

Navarro finds some solace in knowing her daughter's organs were transplanted into six children across the country. But she can't help imagining the instant her daughter was turned into a limp rag doll, her large, brown eyes fixed and unfazed by the light.

"All I can think," Navarro said, "is that at some point, she was thinking, `Mommy, come get me.'-"