An American man is facing serious charges after allegedly torturing and murdering his 5-year-old daughter. The victim, Izabella Loving, was brutally beaten and locked in a makeshift 5-by-5-foot box before she died in early April. The accused, identified as 35-year-old Nicholas Loving, has been charged with child abuse causing substantial bodily harm.
On April 3, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office was alerted about an unresponsive child. At approximately 6:50 a.m., deputies were dispatched to the family’s residence in Cold Springs, Nevada, where Nicholas and his partner Andrea live with their three children. When the deputies arrived, little Izabella was declared dead at the scene.
A probable cause affidavit alleges that Izabella had been coughing up blood and mucus for ten days before her death. According to the court document, Nicholas told the police that he measured her body temperature, which read 96 or 97 degrees, the night before she died.
Afterwards, he placed her into the locked box, where she was allegedly forced to sleep sometimes as punishment while their other two daughters slept in a queen-sized bed.
Nicholas and Andrea were woken by one of the other girls after midnight. The child told them that Izabella was vomiting, per the court document. It goes on to say that the little girl stopped breathing sometime around 2 a.m. However, the father did not call the police until five hours later.
The affidavit details significant injuries across Izabella’s body, including bruising and trauma to her face, hips, pelvis, arms, and genitals. The little girl had at least 10 injuries on her face alone, including a black eye and a deep cut.
Nicholas claimed that the injuries were self-inflicted or caused by another child, but investigators say Andrea offered a different account. She allegedly told detectives she had seen Nicholas kick Izabella in the genitals and admitted she felt she should be in jail for failing to protect her daughter.
She also said he should go to prison for killing their daughter, according to the affidavit. She told authorities that Nicholas tried to prevent her from calling 911 and instead suggested burying Izabella in their backyard before fleeing to Virginia.
However, Nicholas said Andrea was the reason they took so long to call the police. Despite her statements, Andrea Loving has not been charged. Nicholas remains in custody on a $1 million cash bond.