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Lakeland father, girlfriend face charges in death of 6-year-old girl

 
Larry Lewis Golden Jr., along with his girlfriend Breonna B. Wren, faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter in the June 12, 2018, death of his 6-year-old daughter, Honesty Curry, in Lakeland. [Polk County Sheriff's Office]
Larry Lewis Golden Jr., along with his girlfriend Breonna B. Wren, faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter in the June 12, 2018, death of his 6-year-old daughter, Honesty Curry, in Lakeland. [Polk County Sheriff's Office]
Published June 19, 2018

A Lakeland man and his girlfriend face charges of first-degree murder and aggravated manslaughter in the death of his 6-year-old daughter last week.

Larry Lewis Golden Jr., 26, Breonna B. Wren, 21, were arrested Friday and are being held without bail at the Polk County Jail.

On June 12, Lakeland police officers responded to a call about an unresponsive child. Golden's daughter, Honesty Curry, was lying on her back in the living room with no detectable pulse. Three other children, ages 1, 3 and 4, were in the apartment.

An officer administered CPR on Curry until Lakeland Fire Rescue and Polk County Fire Rescue arrived.

Curry was taken to Lakeland Regional Health before being flown to Tampa General Hospital because of the severity of her injuries, according to police. Hospital staff found severe skull damage, markings resembling adult bite marks on her thigh, lacerations on her throat and bruises all over her body.

They did not expect her to survive. Curry was pronounced dead on Thursday.

Initially, Golden and Wren claimed the girl's injuries were caused by a fall, but both said they had not witnessed it, police said. Later, Wren told police the girl had fallen twice —the first time was when Curry hit her head on a protruding closet door in the hallway, and the second after Curry had been forced to stand in the corner for punishment and hit her forehead against the wall.

Golden said he found his daughter unresponsive later that night when he went to went into the bedroom to wake her up. He called for emergency medical assistance.

The couple was confronted with the injuries found by hospital staff, and Wren admitted to police that she had hit Curry twice with a leather belt as the child stood in the corner for punishment. Wren said Golden also had struck the child with an unknown object, which sent her to the floor.

The Department of Children and Families was notified and took the two youngest children into custody, police said. The 4-year-old was picked up by her mother.