Deputies in Marion County also arrested the child’s mother after saying she knew about earlier abuse and did not stop it.

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A Marion County man is accused of killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter after binding her hands and legs, punching her in the chest and delaying a call for help, while the girl’s mother now faces child-neglect charges in the widening case.

Authorities say the case matters not only because of Paisley Brown’s death, but because it quickly expanded from a single arrest to a broader investigation into who knew what inside the home where several children lived. Deputies first booked Jeroen Jarrell Coombs, 32, on aggravated child abuse after Paisley was found unresponsive Feb. 19 in Citra, then later added a homicide charge. Investigators also arrested the child’s mother, Jennifer Kendrick, 26, after saying she admitted she knew Coombs had abused Paisley before and failed to protect her.

Deputies said they were called around noon Feb. 19 to a home in the 16500 block of NE 44th Avenue in Citra, a community northeast of Ocala, after an unresponsive child was reported. Marion County Fire Rescue took Paisley to a hospital, where she died. Investigators said Coombs was the only adult with the children when the fatal abuse happened. According to the sheriff’s office, he called Kendrick just before 11 a.m. to say the girl was unresponsive, but no one called 911 for about 40 more minutes. Lt. Paul Bloom later told reporters that what deputies learned was “this child was punished.” Investigators said Paisley had bruises and ligature marks on her wrists and feet, details that pushed detectives to question Coombs closely after he first said the girl woke up groggy.

Detectives said Coombs eventually admitted he tied Paisley’s hands with a bathrobe belt and wrapped blue painter’s tape around her legs to keep her from reaching into her diaper. In court, Detective Karla Santana-Palau said Coombs told investigators he picked the child up while she was still bound, dropped her because she squirmed, and then struck her in the chest three times with his knuckles. After the third blow, Santana-Palau said, he told detectives the child became unresponsive. Another child in the home also gave deputies information. The sheriff’s office said a sibling reported that Coombs had assaulted Paisley that day and on earlier occasions. During a later hearing, prosecutors said the sibling told detectives he heard Paisley crying and said Coombs punched her many times. Authorities have not publicly released a full arrest affidavit laying out every minute of the final encounter, and some medical details remain tied to the death investigation.

Family members said the events inside the home did not come out of nowhere. Tabitha Harless, identified by local television stations as Paisley’s great-aunt, said she owned the trailer where the children lived and arrived after the emergency unfolded. Harless said she found a scene that did not match the panic she expected around a gravely injured child. She told WESH that she performed CPR and immediately noticed Paisley was wet and badly bruised. Harless also said one of the older children told her Coombs had punched the girl. Relatives told local reporters that Coombs had been around for only a few months, but the children described a much darker picture than the one adults had been shown. WESH also reported that five children between ages 1 and 9 were in the home and that four other children were later taken into protective custody. Those accounts have added to relatives’ claim that the children were living in dangerous conditions long before Paisley died.

The legal case grew in stages. Coombs was first arrested on Feb. 20 on an aggravated child abuse charge, and prosecutors soon signaled more serious charges were likely. At a Feb. 25 hearing, Judge Peter Brigham denied bond after hearing investigators describe a child who had been bound and beaten. By early March, the sheriff’s office said Coombs had been additionally charged with homicide. On March 4, deputies arrested Kendrick, saying she first denied abuse and then admitted she knew Coombs had previously bound and abused Paisley. Investigators said Kendrick acknowledged she failed to intervene, allowing the abuse to continue. Deputies booked her on two felony child-neglect counts and also said she violated felony probation. As of the latest reports, both Kendrick and Coombs were being held without bond. Authorities have said the investigation remains open, and public reports reviewed for this article did not identify a next court date.

The case has shaken relatives and neighbors in this rural part of Marion County, where the address at the center of the investigation sits off a lightly traveled road lined with modest homes and trailers. Harless said the children “slipped through the cracks,” framing Paisley’s death as both a criminal case and a family collapse that adults failed to stop. Bloom, speaking for the sheriff’s office, described the facts as tragic and shocking, a phrase that local stations repeated as new details emerged. Even with the homicide and neglect charges filed, key pieces are still not public, including the full autopsy findings and whether prosecutors will pursue any additional counts. For now, the case stands as a layered investigation into fatal violence, delayed emergency aid and whether other adults could have stepped in before a 3-year-old girl died.

Authorities say Coombs and Kendrick remain jailed without bond as the homicide and child-neglect case moves forward. The next public milestone is expected to be additional court proceedings and any further charging decision tied to the autopsy and the continuing investigation.

Author note: Last updated March 21, 2026.