Man ‘made girl, 4, do plank exercise then killed her by snapping her spine’

Four year-old Mariya Owens, who was murdered Christmas Eve 2016. Prosecutors believe her mother’s boyfriend Demarcus Heath snapped her spine with his foot as she performed a ‘punishment’ plank (Picture: WSOC)

A man murdered his girlfriend’s four year-old daughter on Christmas Eve by making her do a plank exercise before breaking her spine with his foot, a court heard.

Demarcus Heath will serve 20 years after admitting killing Mariya Owens – after lying to cops that he had heard a ‘pop’ come from her back while giving her a hug.

The Charlotte Observer reported that the most likely cause of Mariya’s 2016 death came courtesy of an inmate who had shared a cell with him at Mecklenburg County Jail in North Carolina. He said the 230-pound thug had told him how he would discipline Mariya and her sisters by making them hold a push up, or plank, for two minutes. According to Assistant District Attorney Jay Ashendorf, a medical examiner said Mariya’s injuries could have come from her mom’s boyfriend pushing down on her back with his foot.

Demarcus Heath will serve 20 years for Mariya’s murder after striking a plea deal which saw him admit second degree murder. He claimed she’d died after he hugged her too hard (Picture: Mecklenburg County Jail)

Such an action would have been consistent with the shredded aorta caused by a fractured lower spine that she suffered. Heath was jailed for 20 years last thursday after striking a plea deal which saw him admit killing Mariya in return for a second-degree murder charge. A court heard how he claimed he had been arguing with Mariya’s mom Jenipher Fofana and was so fearful he wouldn’t see her kids again that he had hugged her too hard. Fofana, who said she had no idea her daughter was being abused, wore a ‘Justice for Mariya’ t-shirt to court and blasted the sentence he was given. She said: ‘I just want him to know that he still has to answer to someone about this. ‘Twenty months doesn’t bring my daughter back.’