Shaylyn Ammerman: Kyle Parker Charged In Toddler’s Rape And Death

Kyle Parker, 22, was arraigned in an Owen County, Indiana, court Monday for the death of Shaylyn Ammerman, a 15-month-old toddler. According to reports, the suspect was charged with child molestation, kidnapping with serious bodily injury, rape, aggravated battery, strangulation, obstructing justice, and failure to report a dead body. Although authorities said he confessed to kidnapping the toddler, Parker pleaded not guilty.

Shaylyn Ammerman vanished from her father’s residence in Spencer, on Wednesday, sparking a search operation involving over 100 people, including FBI agents, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Indiana Department of Natural resources, and a volunteer search-and-rescue team. Her body was found in a wooded area the following day after Parker allegedly confessed.

Shaylyn Ammerman’s grandmother, Tamera Morgan, and father Justin Ammerman were the last people to see the child alive on Tuesday. Authorities confirmed Shaylyn had been staying at her father’s home per a joint custody arrangement.

The bubbly blond girl with piercing blue eyes was last seen sleeping and wearing a white sleeper decorated with owls.

“I put her to bed around 10:00 or 10:30 and I checked on her at midnight before I went to bed. She was laying in bed sound asleep, and then we went to bed and we woke up and she was gone,” her father said.

According to WTHR, Kyle Parker was at the Ammerman residence on the evening of March 22 through the early morning hours of March 23, drinking and watching a movie with Justin and his brother Adam.

When Justin woke up the following morning and Shaylyn Ammerman was missing from her bed, he immediately called 911.

After being questioned by police, Adam said Parker left the Spencer residence between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on March 23. People reports that Adam saw him carrying something, and when he yelled goodnight, his friend did not turn back to acknowledge him. However, he thought nothing of it and simply went to sleep.

I wish I hadn’t read the court documents in this case. #WTHR #ShaylynAmmerman pic.twitter.com/HaoZYlWvzT

— Scott Swan (@ScottWTHR) March 29, 2016

Police later learned Kyle Parker made prior arrangements to pick up a relative’s child on March 23. However, he failed to turn up. Parker was eventually located by his stepfather, Patton, who told him he was wanted for questioning and offered to take him to the police station.

Patton said Kyle began crying when he casually mentioned that Shaylyn Ammerman was missing. He then went on to say he had nothing to with the toddler’s disappearance and denied carrying anything in his arms when he left the house. At the time, he was unaware that Adam had already been questioned by police.

Kyle Parker also told his stepfather he would rather commit suicide than spend any time in prison. Patton told investigators his stepson confessed to him that he took Shaylyn Ammerman from her crib and she was alive and well. He claimed he was drunk and had no recollection of what happened afterwards.

According to a court affidavit, Kyle Parker raped the toddler in the front seat of his vehicle before suffocating her to death.

Candlelight vigil to be held for Shaylyn Ammerman, at 7 p.m. at Cooper Park in Spencer tonight. pic.twitter.com/U95OCBCwLu

— WTHR.com (@WTHRcom) March 25, 2016

After Shaylyn was dead, he tried to hide his despicable crime by using bleach to clean his body as well as the body of Shaylyn Ammerman. According to reports, he had poured bleach down the toddler’s anal and vaginal cavities in an attempt to destroy traces of his DNA. He also dumped clothing and burned it in the wooded area where her body was found.

Donna Stewart, a Kentucky examiner, is deeming the Shaylyn Ammerman murder the most horrible case of sexual trauma she has ever witnessed, saying the severe trauma and bruising on her body, including her vaginal and anal areas, were clearly inflicted while she was still alive. The toddler also had injuries on her throat, mouth, and nose consistent with signs that she was strangled.

Police noted Kyle Parker’s vehicle was recently cleaned. However, they located some incriminating items in the garage of his home. Witnesses said Parker immediately pulled his vehicle into the garage when he arrived home, which was reportedly unusual. His friends also noted that he was unusually distant in quiet in the hours prior to his arrest.

Kyle Parker refused to reveal the location of Shaylyn Ammerman’s body until his stepfather intervened. Although he initially implicated his friend, Adam, in his niece’s disappearance, Adam Ammerman passed a polygraph test.

[Mugshot image via ABC]