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Largo Grandfather, His Girlfriend Charged In Tot's Death

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 25, 2008

Sylvester David Carew

Nikki Tyler
Gardner-Bradley

LARGO - A 54-year-old man and his 38-year-old girlfriend were arrested Monday night in Hillsborough County on charges they killed his 4-year-old granddaughter, according to Largo police.

The girl, whose name was not released, was dead when she was taken to Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg on Aug. 16, said Largo Police Department Detective Lara Young. She weighed 33 pounds and had visible marks of abuse, Young said.

An autopsy report states she died of "systemic trauma,'' with malnutrition a contributing cause of death.

Charged with first-degree murder are her grandfather, Sylvester David Carew, and his girlfriend, Nikki Tyler Gardner-Bradley. They were being held at Orient Road Jail in Hillsborough County.

When the pair took the girl to Northside, they claimed the child merely had stopped breathing, Young said. When presented with the autopsy findings, they blamed each other for what happened in the apartment the three shared on the west side of Largo, Young said.

Neither works, and both are on disability.

The child's mother had arranged for Carew to care for the child, Young said.

Carew and his girlfriend were found in Hillsborough County with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service regional fugitive task force.

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