Grieving mother tries to make sense of daughter's death

Grieving mother tries to make sense of daughter's death
By Rebecca Catalanello, Times staff writer
In print: Thursday, October 9, 2008


TAMPA — At age 2, Makaila Thompson could count to 10.

She adored Dora the Explorer and once made a game of dropping toys in the toilet and trying to flush.

When Makaila was born Jan. 10, 2006, the first thing her mother noticed were her eyes.

"You see her?" Monique Thompson remembers musing, the baby in her arms.

When Makaila started to talk, she talked a lot. She could sing Alicia Keys' No One from start to finish. She once ate a double cheeseburger, small fries and a juice in one sitting.

Makaila died Sept. 5, at the hands of her mother's boyfriend, according to Hillsborough sheriff's deputies. Investigators say she suffered blows to her chest so powerful, her heart tore.
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