Background: Marketta Phillips during her March 27 court appearance (KTNV). Inset: Phalan Whitson and Jeremy Ross, the parents of alleged victim Journei Ross (KTNV).
A Nevada woman who had been trusted to watch her roommate’s 3-year-old daughter is now charged with her murder.
Marketta Phillips, 41, appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom on Thursday after being charged with open murder. During a press conference covered by ABC affiliate KTNV, Robert Price, the Homicide Lieutenant for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, stated that police responded to a call during the early morning hours of March 26 from a father who had said that “the babysitter had just stabbed his child.”
The father, Jeremy Ross, told police that the babysitter — Phillips — had fled the scene on foot. When police arrived, Price said the little girl was suffering from “several stab wounds.”
After first responders performed lifesaving measures, the little girl, identified as Journei Ross, was transported to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
