Wednesday, December 16th 2015, 12:45 pm
The father of a child abuse victim hopes to stop another child from ever being abused.
Anthony Roldan's 1-year-old daughter, Neveah, was killed two weeks ago after detectives said the mother's boyfriend violently shook the baby.
Neveah’s father believes if someone had spoken up, his daughter would still be alive.
It's been two weeks since Roldan was forced to say goodbye to his 1-year-old baby girl, Neveah. Her mother, Hallelujah Brookens, and her boyfriend, Nathaniel Watkins, were both arrested for her murder.
“It's time to make a change. It's time to stop this, it's too much. No one should have to feel this," Roldan said.
He lives in Florida, but got to Tulsa as fast as he could when he heard his daughter was on life support. He was able to hold her in his arms when she took her last breath.
Now, he wants to make sure no other parent has to go through what he is experiencing.
"It's sickening. It's sickening to see this happening with kids. It just needs to stop," he said.
Documents say Watkins told police Neveah wouldn't stop crying, so he shook her really hard for a few minutes, then, her body went limp and she stopped crying.
12/7/2015 Related Story: Mother, Boyfriend Charged In Tulsa Baby's Death
It says he put her in a cold bath and poured water over her face to revive her, but it didn't work, so he dressed her, dropped her into the crib and went to the neighbors for help.
Living states away, Roldan wasn't able to see warning signs himself but feels someone had to have noticed something.
"I feel like, a lot of the time when this happens, it's more or less domestic abuse from not just the child, but the mother as well. A lot of times the mothers don't speak up," he said.
Roldan feels his baby's mother would have tried to prevent Neveah's death if she could.
“I feel like she really did love that little girl and did whatever she could to get her life together for my little girl,” he said.
Roldan plans to start an organization to help parents of child abuse victims. You can learn more here.
Brookens and Watkins both pleaded not guilty. Their next court date is February 3rd.
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